


Corruption (OLD)

by Sylph_of_Space



Series: Corruption [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Language, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Female!Frisk, Older!Frisk, Some Adult Humor/Suggestions?, Underfell Sans, Violence, underfell Papryus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-06 08:21:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 25,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5409773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylph_of_Space/pseuds/Sylph_of_Space
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You died. Again. But, when you woke up... You were back at the beginning. You didn't reset... but something was off. Flowey seemed skittish, frightened even. He was KIND. The people you knew, you once held dear... CHANGED. The entire underground was different... Dark. Nobody seemed to recognize you, but a part of them still remained. Someone who just wanted a friend, to be looked up to, respected... And another who just wanted hope-who was tired of this game... You're left with two choices: Will you kill to survive, or will you die befriending them all over again? </p><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something is Wrong

You woke with a start. What? Where were you? It was pretty dark here, wherever you were. You sat up slowly and groaned. Why did you hurt so much? You looked around, and eventually looked up. Above you was a massive hole, probably the biggest joke you've ever seen in your life. Had you fallen down that? You can't quite remember. A lot of your memories are really fuzzy for some reason, but you could feel that something was wrong. Very wrong. Standing up, you took note that you were on a bed of golden flowers. If you had fallen down that hole, the flowers must have somehow broken your fall. You sigh heavily, feeling a bit bruised and aching. Deciding it was high time to get out of this place, you noticed one hallway, and went through it. 

In the next room was a single golden flower, but this one had a face and talked. That wasn't normal, was it? No, it's not, at least you're pretty sure it's not. It makes you feel nervous. 

"H-Howdy! Oh no... Are you a human?" At the strange question, you simply nod. "Oh, no no no... You can't be here! It's not safe for humans. You'll be killed in an instant! T-Toriel, if she finds you here... Oh _nooooo_." The flower sounded very distressed. You crouched down in front of it with a frown. 

"My name is Frisk. Do you have a name? Can you tell me where exactly I am? I... I can't remember much at all. I think I must have fallen down that hole." You explained with a deeper frown. The flower took a deep breath and sighed. 

"My name is Flowey. You've fallen into the Underworld. Monsters dwell here, but they are cruel and evil creatures. They all hate humans deeply, and will kill you on sight. This world... It's kill or be killed. A-And I don't know how much more I can take!" The flower sobbed, drooping slightly. On instinct to comfort, you reach out and gently pat the flower. He sniffed sadly. "To get back to the surface, you'll have to go through the Underground. Everyone you encounter will likely try to kill you." He said in a much more serious tone now. "If you take me with you, I can help you fight. I-I don't wanna hurt anyone, but if we have to I will. I can help you in the Underground, or at least I can try." He said confidently, and you smiled softly, saying that of course you'd take him with you. But how? 

At that last question, Flowey seemed to sort of grow out of the ground, and he grew up your arm, wrapping his stem around your arm a few times to remain stable. "Like this! Can you move your arm okay?" He asked in concern, and you nodded, bending your arm. He wasn't wrapped too tightly, and he wasn't covering your elbow. It was perfect. "Let's go. Oh, and uh... Let's hope we don't run into Toriel. If we do, listen to my advice. I've dealt with her before." He said with a nervous tone. You wondered who this 'Toriel' was and why you should be concerned. With your new friend (and a convenient stick you found) you began your trek through what he referred to as 'The Ruins'. 

"There are all kinds of puzzles here. I hope you'll be alright." Flowey said in concern. "I think you can walk through the buttons and flip that switch over there." He explained, trying to help out in any way he could. You nodded, listen to his advice and working your way through the treacherous Ruins. There were spikes and holes and strange creatures, but the creatures seemed to leave you alone. They seemed... Very, very afraid. Of you? That didn't seem right. Maybe of something else. A few did approach you, attacking you. A creature with one eye picked on you repeatedly, a strange bug acted friendly until his friends were gone and then he attacked you. A friendly ghost-like bug was too afraid to fight you, though.

Eventually, you and Flowey reached a house. "That's Toriel's house. I don't think we can avoid her anymore. The exit is in her basement. We just gotta get through." Flowey seemed terrified to encounter Toriel.

Just as you started to go towards the house, the door slammed open and a large creature walked out. She reminded you of a goat, with her small horns and long ears, but she set you on edge. She had yellow eyes, red pupils, and red tints just under her eyes. Her black robes were torn up, and the smile she wore made you feel extremely uneasy. 

"Oh! I knew someone was wandering around my Ruins, setting off my traps. I didn't know it was a human. A child at that. A poor, defenseless child..." The way she called you defenseless made you shudder.  "Come, my child. You must be hungry, and scared." She grabbed your arm rather forcefully and pulled you into the house. Flowey seemed to shake with fear on your arm, and you only could hope this would end well.


	2. Running Far, Far Away...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally like darker stories and such, but I'm not very used to actually writing it. Here goes nothing ^_^'

The goat creature lead the two of you into the house. You were extremely uncomfortable. She showed you a room that reminded you of a child's room, and asked you to stay there for a short time while she prepared something. The smile she wore gave you a strange sense of fear, but you appreciated a room. Looking around, you spotted a small bed, various toys, a backpack in the corner, and a box full of shoes of every size and style. Finding a pair in your size, you take them and put them on, as yours were ruined. They were a comfy pair of boots, and you smiled. Grabbing the backpack and slipping it on, you grabbed a couple pairs of pants and shirts, stuffing them in the bag. Who knew when you'd get another chance like this, to gather clothes and stuff? Who knew how long you'd be here? It was lucky a lot of them could fit you, seeing that a lot of them were for people a lot smaller than you. Kids, maybe? Various types, sizes, etc. Flowey looked around nervously. "It's weird that she has all these different clothes. I don't like this." You noted with another glance around. 

"She's not good. The exit that leads out of the Ruins is in her basement." Flowey explained, slowly moving up your arm so his head was resting on your shoulder and his stem was still around your arms. "Let's get out of here. Maybe snag some food too? It would be good for you." He suggested as you both moved through the house. You could smell something being cooked, but it almost smelled like... It was burning? 

Curious, you wander around until you discover a kitchen. Toriel was in there, making something, and humming. That seemed odd, she was so intimidating and yet she hummed like it was nothing. It made you smile a little. That's when she noticed your presence and turned around with a smile. That same smile that put you on edge. "Have you looked around the house to your liking? It's small, but I hope you enjoy it. I have made a pie for you as well. It's... Snail pie!" She said cheerfully, showing off the disgusting pie. You made a face, and her entire demeanor changed. "You idiot brat, I have brought you into my home. I made you food, and I allowed you to take clothing. I have not killed you yet. You should be _thankful_ , not making a face like that." She growled out, and you flinched back. She gave an evil smile, waltzing into the main room with the pie in hand. You followed quietly, taking note of how this room looked. 

There was a table and a few chairs. A bookcase with many torn or burnt books, a few books left mostly intact. The fire in the fireplace looked violent, so you stayed away from it. The only truly comforting thing in the room was a comfortable chair in the room by the fireplace. There were vases of dead flowers, and that made Flowey nervous. He never spoke in front of Toriel. Weird. She set up the table, and obviously expected you to eat at least a slice. You tried, and made another face. The dark look on her face was all you needed before you scarfed down the disgusting slice, out of fear. Tears stung your eyes from the horribleness of the pie, but it made Toriel smile cruelly. "Now, my child, I will assume you want to leave. To go home?" She asked. Flowey looked at you with great concern, almost seeming to try and tell you not to fall for this. You mean, you're not stupid. You know it's a trap. It was also the closest you'd get to leaving without having to fight or kill. Maybe you can slip out. 

You nodded quickly. "Y-Yes, do you know how I can leave?" You asked nervously, treading this water carefully. Her smile, yet again, was creeping you out. 

"Come with me, then." She motioned for you to follow her, down the stairs. You did so, and Flowey's stem tightened around your arm. 

"I-I don't like this." Flowey whispered in your ear. You hushed him, patting his petals softly with a reassuring smile. 

"It'll be okay." You said with confidence. Toriel lead you down a long hallway, and stopped in front of the door at the end. 

"You know, you _brat_. I need only one more soul. One more human soul. Then, I can leave these cursed Ruins, reclaim my throne as queen! Your life is the only thing standing in the way of that right now. You came so close to leaving, and yet... Here you are. Now, you die." A fireball formed in her hand and she threw it at you, to which you screeched and dived to the side. She was attacking you! You couldn't fight back at all. You refused to fight back. "JUst DIE yoU BraT!" Her voice seemed to change to something much darker, much scarier, and it made you shake in fear and panic. For the first time, Flowey spoke in her presence. 

"Run for it, Frisk! Get the door!" 

So you ran for the door, and slammed into it. Toriel's clawed hand dug into your shoulder, making you scream out in pain. You shoved against her, and the door, and finally got the door open. You rushed through it, and the door slammed shut behind you. You heard Toriel screaming in anguish, having lost her chance to leave the Ruins. You were overcome with grief, and guilt. You felt horrible. Sinking to the ground in front of the door and leaning back against it, you sighed heavily. You then realized you grabbed no food and groaned. 

"You made it." Flowey said with a weak, but reassuring smile. "When you weren't looking, and when Toriel wasn't looking... I grabbed a small amount of food and gold." He admitted shyly. "Even though she scares the hell out of me." 

You laughed, hugging your only friend in this dark and scary world. "Thanks, Flowey." You stood, and winced. Your shoulder hurt a ton. Looking at you, it made you cringe even more. It didn't look too good to you. Digging through the backpack, you picked one of the precious few shirts you snagged and tore it sightly, with the intent to wrap your shoulder to help at least somewhat. Satisfied with your work, you reajusted the backpack and Flowey rested his head on your shoulder again. You walked forward, filled with a strange sense of hope and determination.


	3. ...And Straight Into Trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooooo I've been wanting to write this part for a while! I don't know how well this will go, so I appreciate constructive criticism. Now, on to the fun stuff.

First thing you noticed when you left the ruins? It was cold. You were suddenly grateful that you snagged boots and extra clothes. Flowey shivered, now moving from your arm to gently sling himself around your neck, both for your warmth and to keep himself warm in your hair. There was a path set in a thick forest, the trees black and tall on both sides of the path. You walked down the path, feeling a bit at ease. It was peaceful right now. The snow was falling softly, making the somewhat creepy forest look beautiful. "Have you been out here before, Flowey?" You spoke up curiously, breaking the silence. 

He looked at you with a tiny smile. "Well, the Ruins have been my home for a very long time, because I don't like to fight, nor do I want to hurt anyone. That will get you killed in this world. So, when I figured that out I went to the place where no monsters can enter from. The Ruins. I got in by travelling through the grounds." Noticing your confused look, he elaborated. "When I'm planted in the ground, I can sort of sink into the ground and pop up other places. That's what I did. I _did_ visit here. It was pretty, but the monsters were ruthless like everyone else. I left quickly, and... The Ruins became my home." He shrugged-well, rather, moved his leaves up and down. You nodded in thought as you stepped over a massive branch on the ground. 

"Would you like a flower pot or maybe a shoe to travel in? I can fill it with dirt, if that would be better for you." You offered your flower friend with a smile. He shook his petal-lined head. 

"No, I like traveling like this, if you don't mind." He said cheerfully. It grew quiet, and then there was a loud SNAP. You whipped around quickly, and noticed the branch from earlier had been shattered. 

"What...? How did that happen?" You wondered aloud. Flowey shrugged his leaves again. 

"Let's keep going, Frisk." He said. "I-I've got a bad feeling." You nodded again and turned around to continue walking. You suddenly froze, a red aura surrounding you. You heard a low, dark chuckle from behind you. Slowly, ever so slowly, you turned around, but not by your own will. It's like the red aura was controlling you. You were nervous, but not quite scared. 

Okay. Seeing who-rather, what was behind you made you more scared. It was a short, somewhat bulky skeleton. Yes, that's right. A skeleton. His teeth looked sharp and dangerous, and one of them was gold. He had on a wide, sinister smirk. He was wearing a black, fluffy-looking jacket, with a red turtleneck under that, and black shorts. In this cold? One eye was flaming red, with the same red aura-you guessed it was magic?-that was surrounding your body. "Well, well. I'm surprised. A human? Heh. I should just kill you now. It would be so easy, you humans are so _weak_." At this, the magic around you seemed to tighten, and it became hard to breathe. "Eh. Then it's not as fun." He dropped the magic, his eye (eye socket?) stopped glowing red, and you fell back, stumbling to the ground. 

"Don't hurt her!" Flowey snapped. "Frisk, are you alright?" He asked in concern. You nodded, scrambling backwards away from the skeleton. 

"Wh-Who are you?" You asked. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets casually, his menacing smirk still on his face. 

"Name's Sans. Surprised that you're here, the old hag in the Ruins would never let a kid leave. Either they die, or she keeps 'em. Didya kill her?" He seemed... excited by the aspect of death. You shook your head quickly. 

"No! Of course not. Why would I ever kill anyone or anything? That's horrible." You responded rather quickly. Sans' grin widened. 

"You'll never make it in this world if you have that mentality. Maybe I will kill you, take your soul... Then it would be merciful, in a sense. I can make it quick... Painless." He took a few steps towards you, and in response you took a few steps back. 

"I-I don't think you should." You said nervously, backing up as he continued to come forward. He backed you up to a gate that was closed. 

"You should thank me, human. If you got through this gate, you'd reach my brother. He's a human-hunting _fanatic_. He'd kill you in an instant, take your soul, and use it to uproot Undyne, taking his place as the leader of the Royal Guard." He chuckled darkly. "Isn't my brother cruel?" Suddenly, he shoved you to the side and unlocked the gate. "Actually, let's make this fun." He roughly grabbed your arm, dragging you through. You shook with fear at this point. He let go of you, shoving you so you hit the ground. The cold snow seeped through your clothes, making you shiver a little. He leaned over you, his one eye flaring red again. "Are you scared, human? _Then run._ " 

You shot up, and ran into the trees. Branches and bushes scratched you up, but you were wasting no time here. "Better run, kiddo!" Kiddo? You weren't a kid anymore. You were well into your teens. "I will find you! The hunt makes it more fun." His dark laughter seemed to fill the quiet air of the forest. Thinking fast, you dived into a nearby bush. Flowey squealed a little in discomfort, but you shushed him quickly. Listening intently, you realized you couldn't hear the skeleton anymore. Staying hidden in the forest, you travel along. You could see the path from where you were in the woods, as you weren't too awfully far from it. Travelling through the woods carefully and slowly, you chatted quietly to Flowey. He didn't seem to know Sans personally, or who his brother was, but he had heard about the Skeleton Brothers. They were strong, and were sentries, looking for humans to capture or even kill if it came to that. This made you nervous, scared even. Hearing about his brother made you certain you did not want to meet them again. 

"BROTHER! You saw a human, and yet you did not capture them?" A rather loud voice was heard in the silence. Freezing, you slowly looked around and bit your lip worriedly. There! You spotted the owner of the voice. He was a taller, skinnier skeleton. He was wearing some kind of battle armor that was all black, with a red ripped scarf. He also had sharp teeth, much like Sans did. His skull had a few cracks on it. Perhaps the equivalent to scars on someone with flesh? 

"Look, bro, they slipped. I let them run because I wanted to give chase, and I lost them." Sans spoke up. "'m sorry. Look, now you have a chance to go after them too. It's a girl, I think. Not a kid kid, not an adult." He shrugged, hands shoved into his pockets again. "They weren't even alone. They had some kind of weird yellow flower thing with them." 

"You should be stronger, brother! This wouldn't happen if you were stronger!" The taller skeleton must have been Sans' brother, you assumed. 

"i'm strong enough, bro." His eye flared red for a moment or two. "You weren't exactly luckier than me." 

Flowey tugged on your hair with his leaves, still draped around your neck. "Let's go. They want to kill us, Frisk. We gotta go." You nodded slowly as the silence came back. As you slowly moved through the trees, to draw little attention to yourself, the taller skeleton suddenly looked in your direction with narrowed eye-sockets. You froze and Flowey covered his face with his leaves. The skeleton shook his head with a frown, turning back to Sans. 

"If you see the human again, Sans, capture them. Bring them to me, immediately." He said before turning and leaving, his scarf billowing out behind him. You let out a heavy sigh of relief. You were safe. For now.


	4. Welcome to Snowdin!

Trudging through the snow, trees, and bushes, the cold and wet was starting to get to you. You were almost constantly shivering at this point. Flowey tried to keep you warm, acting as a nice scarf. "Maybe it would be a good idea to stop and put on an extra shirt." Flowey suggested quietly in your ear. You nodded in agreement, and stopped. Slipping off the backpack and crouching over it, you dug through it, hoping maybe you had snagged a jacket instead of having to put on an extra shirt. 

"Aha!" Grinning triumphantly, you pulled out a large sweater. It was a brown color, and wasn't very pretty, but it would keep you warm, and...

"Hey! That hides a lot of your human features. You can probably use that to sneak through the towns and stuff. It'd be a lot faster to go through them rather than sneaking around and stuff. You look like some kind of mud creature. Just gotta do something with your face." Flowey pointed out, sliding off your shoulders to flop on the ground. Using his leaves to dig through the snow, he found mud below it and looked up at you with a slightly devious smile. "Come closer, Frisk." You shook your head, knowing exactly what this damn flower had in mind. "C'mon, you want to be hidden, yes?" You sigh heavily, resigning to the fact that this was happening and you weren't stopping it. You lean down, your face level with the flower. 

"I hate you, you know." You grumbled as he used his leaves to smear dirt and mud on your face, leaving your eyes and mouth alone. 

"No, you don't." He grinned widely, grabbing a leaf or two from the ground and stick it in your hair. "There. You look like some kind of mud monster." He giggled as you lifted him up and draped him over your neck again.

You just groan. "Well, at least I'll be alright." You continue your trudge through the snow and forest, until finally, you saw something that made you feel happy. Even if it probably held more danger than the forest. "Lights, I see lights! Is that a town?" You asked excitedly.

"I think so. But maybe we should avoid the buildings. Monsters do want to kill you, after all." Flowey said, a bit nervously. You sigh. 

"But I'm hungry and cold and tired. I don't want to sleep out here." You muttered with crossed arms. "If there's a chance for me to sleep inside, then I'm gonna do it." You added with no room for further discussion. Finally, after a bit more travel, you reached the very snowy town. It was a small, cozy town, with a few houses here and there, a library, an inn, and what seemed to be a... Bar? "Oh thank god, somewhere warm with food." You mumbled, completely ignoring Flowey's protests. 

Inside, not many even noticed you entering the bar. Behind the bar was some kind of... Fire creature, but it was made by blue fire. It even had glasses on and clothes. How were the clothes not wearing off? It was weird, to say the least. You approached the bar, and the fire creature looked at you. It didn't speak, or at least you didn't think it did, until some other creature at the bar spoke up.

"'My name is Grillby, welcome. What can I get you?' That's what he's saying." It said without even looking at you. 

"Oh. Um. Just a drink, and something to eat. Whatever this can get." You managed to say, trying to change your voice a little as you slid some gold on the counter. You could hear Flowey's snickering in your ear at your attempts. The fire monster-Grillby, rather-seemed to nod, going to make the food and such for you. You waited by the bar patiently, chatting with Flowey in the meantime. 

"Have you been here before, Flowey?" 

"Nah, I passed through here when I went to the Ruins, but I never stopped here. Too cold for my tastes." 

"Hey, bro, c'mon. I know you want to catch that human, but we gotta eat." You froze at that dreaded voice, not even daring to turn around and look. Flowey peeked, though, and confirmed your fear. The skeleton brothers were here. 

"Brother, I do not think we should stop in our search!" The taller skeleton grumbled, but entered the bar anyways. Grillby had come back with your food and you grabbed it quickly, finding a seat far from the door. 

"Let's put it this way. They are human. They're weak. If we don't find and kill them, the other monsters will. If not that, the cold or the environment will get them. We'll just find their body." Sans seemed to shrug as they sat down, unfortunately near you. You kept your head down, hoping to whatever deity existed that they wouldn't spot you or recognize you. You noticed Sans' grin become something evil. "Besides. Don't you like chasin' your prey? It's fun." 

The taller skeleton smirked with his sharp teeth. "Yes, you are not wrong there, brother. That's always fun." You couldn't help a shudder running through you as you ate the burger you had and sipped on the drink. Sans looked around with a deep frown as he went to the bar. He chatted all friendly-like to Grillby and suddenly, one of the worst things that could happen, happened. Grillby seemed to nod again, and then pointed in your direction. Sans smirked widely, and nodded his thanks. He pointed to his brother who was still at the table and said more stuff, and then looked in your direction with that ever present smirk with his sharp teeth. The lighting glinted off his gold tooth. You averted your eyes, back down to your food, not wanting to draw any attention. 

"Flowey, I think he's spotted me. Get down, under the brown sweater if you must. Just hide." You muttered between bites of food. Flowey nodded, slipping off your shoulders and into your lap, pressing himself down to be out of sight. Sans sauntered over to your table and sat down across from you. 

"Heh. Nice outfit you have there. Almost worked. I didn't even notice you." He leaned over on the table so he was even closer to you. "See, I'm friends with Grillby over there. I told him about my little encounter with you and your flower-thing. He told me that some _thing_ had come in with a flower-thing, and pointed me kindly in your direction." His eyes went totally black, the tiny pinpricks of white light in them disappearing. "D o y o u w a n n a h a v e a b a d t i m e, k i d?"


	5. Leaving, Already?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark and evil Sans seems to be well loved... I only hope I'm doing him justice. I want to do something interesting here, so... Let's try this. See how it goes. By the way, listening to Wolf In Sheep's Clothing by Set It Off helped me get this written.

You gulped at those words, that expression. Maybe you could talk your way out of this? Maybe you can run for it? You decided to try both. Talk first, run second, if it came to that. "I-I really don't want any trouble. I just want to get home. Back to the surface." 

Sans only laughed at your answer. "You see, that's the issue. _Everyone_ down here wants to get to the surface. When we do get there, we will slaughter the human race." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe keep a few around for fun later. What fun is killing everything in the first few weeks?" As he explained this to you, your expression slowly turned to one of horror. He seemed to grow more cocky and his smirk grew the more scared you got. "So, listen. I'm gonna kill you, one way or another. You can make it super simple, and stay here, and I'll end it now. That's no fun, now is it?" He stood up now. "The fun way, is letting you run. And telling my brother, Papyrus. So, go ahead and run, little human." He turned to the taller skeleron-Papryus, you assume-and decided it would be brilliant to shout. "Yo, Pap!" You took this as your cue to shoot out of your seat, only drawing more attention to yourself. You drape Flowey over your neck, grab your bag, and bolt. 

Running drew even more attention to yourself, and you heard Sans announce your presence to his brother. 

"THE HUMAN IS HERE?!" That shout is all you needed to go into a full-on sprint. The door to Grillby's slammed open behind you after you had already bolted into the snowy outside and you heard fast footsteps behind you. "HUMAN! I WILL TAKE YOUR SOUL, TAKE UNDYNE'S SPOT AS LEADER OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND THEN GIVE YOUR SOUL TO ASGORE TO BREAK THE BARRIER, AND EVERYONE WILL BE GRATEFUL AND ALSO FEAR ME!!" The shouts increased, followed by scary laughter. 

"What the _hell_ Frisk?! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Flowey shouted at you. 

"Not. Helping. Dandelion." You grumbled back. You felt yourself get lifted off the ground by that damn red magic again, and then you were slammed into the ground. You gasped in pain, pushing yourself up and taking off running. Rather, trying to. Sans was suddenly, somehow, in front of you. Like he teleported? What? He waved a hand casually, throwing you backwards and straight into Papryus. He shoved you to the ground with a deep frown. 

"Human. You have made it impressively far, and I am surprised. Through the Ruins, past the Queen, even escaping my brother once. You have proven to be stronger than we assumed, but now... This is where you die, human." A few bones (bones? What?) flew at you, and Flowey shouted at you to dodge them. You did, taking Flowey's word for it. 

"Bro, you could just crush her." Sans said in a bored tone from behind you. 

"I like to have a fight, even if it isn't entirely fair." Papyrus announced in a cold tone. You tried to talk to him, telling him you believed in good people, and that you were a good person, and that maybe he could be too. It seemed to confuse him, you being kind. 

"I'm not gonna fight you." You said bravely. Either you would talk them down, or you would run, but you were going to avoid fighting if you could.

"You'll make it easier to kill you. I was hoping for a challenge." More bones flew in your direction and you dodged them, or you tried to. A blue one smacked into you and your whole body was tinted blue. You felt like lead and couldn't as easily dodge. Must be more of that damn magic. Your movements were slowed, but you tried to speak again. 

"I just want to get to the surface! Let me go in peace!" You tried to plead you way out but that didn't exactly work either. Only more bones and a vicious laughter. You got hit this time and groaned in pain, feeling like you got shot in your side. Flowey, having had enough of this, grew angry and finally did something. 

"StAy awAY fRom uS!" His voice seemed to have turned demonic and small pellets flew from him, much like bullets, at the skeleton. Papyrus was caught off guard, and you turned to flee. 

Shit, you forgot about Sans. Wait. Where was Sans...? No time to think about the smaller of the two brothers. You ran again, leaving a pissed Papyrus. You clutched at your side, which felt like it was on fire, and you noticed it was bleeding too. 

"Dammit." You mumbled. You heard no signs of the brothers behind you, and you were dead tired at this point. Still trudging along, you entered a cool-looking place. Lots of dark and light blues, many things that glowed. It was all around really neat. You slowed down a little, the pain getting to you and your adrenaline running out too. 

"That was too close for comfort. Where did Sans go though?" Flowey asked and you only shrugged. 

"I don't know and I don't really care. If you see some kind of shelter that I can use I would appreciate you pointing it out to me." You said to your flower companion. After trudging through water and grass-like areas for a long while, Flowey tapped your face with his leaf. 

"Look, there. A cave. You can rest there." He said proudly. You sighed but smiled. It wasn't much, and it wouldn't be as nice as a bed, but it worked. You went to the cave and after checking it out a bit, sat down. Your body much appreciated the rest. Digging through the small backpack, you found the shirt you had previously used to help your shoulder, and tore it more to help your now-injured side. Flowey helped too. 

"You need to rest, especially with your injuries. I can keep watch." Flowey offered. You were going to refuse, you really were, but you were just so tired... So exhausted... Instead, you just nodded and adjusted the backpack to act as a pillow and curled up. You fell asleep soon, and dreamt of the surface, and of a kinder Sans.


	6. Questions, Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions are asked, and answered, but more events raise more questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50 kudos for this crappy writing?! Thank you so much!! If any of you have ideas or suggestions for this story, please share.

You woke with a strange sense of foreboding, and on first instinct you glanced around to make sure things were okay. Flowey was still resting beside you, and you were unharmed and your things were in order. So why do things feel wrong? 

"Heh. You're awake." A deep voice straight from nightmares said. You jumped straight up, eyes wide. "Nah, relax. This time I'm not gonna kill you. I actually wanna talk." Sans said, leaning against the cave wall. 

"W-why would you want to talk?" 

"Well you won't fight, you'll just talk anyways. No one here is a decent monster, no one here will take the time to answer questions I'm sure you're brimming with and that flower isn't gonna know everything either. So, since I am someone who can appreciate curiosity, and you'll die eventually anyways, I'll answer questions you have. For now. This doesn't make us friends or nothing." He explained in a bored tone. You nod slowly, deciding to take full advantage of this, and badly hoping Flowey didn't wake and freak out. 

"Why is everyone so badly after my soul?" Was the first question out of your mouth. His signature sinister smirk showed up again. 

"Well, besides it giving a monster power, if we get one more soul, we break the barrier that keeps us here. Then we can wreck havoc on the humans above. Wonder what their screams will sound like." He chuckled darkly. You shuddered in horror again. 

"How can I get to the surface?" 

At this question, he frowned. "You know you aren't gonna make it. Besides having to get through the Underground, you have to get past Asgore, the King of the monsters. This kindness shit you have going on? That won't cut it through the Underground, and especially not with Asgore himself. You'll have to fight, or even kill, if you really want out." 

You returned his frown. "I won't fight. I won't kill. I refuse to." You said with determination. He laughed, his gold tooth glinting in the low light. 

"Okay, well, that's your funeral. My bro and I are still after your ass, and Undyne will be on your trail soon enough. However, since I'm so damn kind, I'll let you go and I won't tell Pap that you've retreated to Waterfall." He grinned. You couldn't help a small smile. 

"Thank you." You said sincerely. 

"Don't thank me. I'm not your friend, I'm being a nice guy for once. This means nothing." He snapped, before turning to leave. He stopped for a moment. "By the way, my bro and I have been going real easy on you, because we didn't think you'd need a ton of force to kill. So, after you've escaped a couple times, we're amping it up now. Be warned." Then, he literally disappeared before your very eyes.

Flowey chose this moment to wake up. "Huh? What's... What's going on?" You gently pat his petals with a small smile. 

"We're fine. Nothing bad happened, and I feel rested. Plus, I think most of my injures are more or less healed, to the point where I can comfortably move." You smiled brightly. "But... Can I ask you something?" 

The flower nodded. "Anything, Frisk!"

"Who's Undyne?" You asked nervously. "I've heard their name mentioned a few times. Along with fearful looks, or warning tones." 

Flowey sighed heavily, looking down. "I don't think I ever met her personally, but I've heard rumors. Leader of the Royal Guard. Papyrus is after her job, everyone knows it. She's one of the best fighters in the Underground and she's totally ruthless too. I think Sans is worse, honestly, but she's bad too. Let's avoid her entirely." He said with a nervous laugh. You nodded quickly, totally agreeing with the 'leave angry monster alone' statement. 

You picked up Flowey and he decided to travel on your arm again, curled around it like a snake with his petal-lined head on your shoulder. You slipped on your backpack, and started to leave the cave. 

"The mud on your face is starting to come off. Do you want to reapply it, or wash it off and take your chances?" Flowey asked. You frowned in thought, and then crouched by some water. You splashed your face with the water until the majority of the mud was gone, but left the leaves in your hair. 

"We'll be okay, I think. C'mon, let's go." You continue your walk through this place. What did Sans call it? Ah yes. Waterfall. Makes since. There was lots of water, and waterfalls. It was very pretty here too. There were some interesting blue flowers around, and they seemed to whisper to you. Flowey explained that they are called Echo Flowers, and that they repeat snippets of conversation the flowers overhead. 

Laughing a little at that idea, you went up to one and listened. "The human won't make it far." That voice. That was definitely Papyrus' voice. Continuing on, and listening to different flowers, you heard a conversation between the brothers. 

"I dunno, bro. They're stronger than I thought. All that damn determination." Ah, yes, that would be Sans. 

"Yes, but soon enough they will encounter Undyne. They cannot possibly get past her." Papyrus, again. 

"Undyne is probably not happy with us right now either..." Sans, but he sounded nervous now. 

"This is true. We shall have to be careful." Papyrus. 

"Why are we in Waterfall again?" Sans sounded confused now. So he did keep his word. 

"Where else could the human have gone? They ran from Snowdin, and this is the next place for them to go." That was the end of the Echo Flowers in this area. 

"They're here." You muttered, mostly to yourself. " _Great_." You came across some really tall grass, and trudged through it with a frown, hating that you couldn't exactly see everything now. 

"Tell me, Skeletons, just _WHY_ you don't have the human, or even their soul?!" You heard a very pissed off, female voice shout. Her shout could rival Papyrus' loud voice. 

"The human is stronger and craftier than we thought they would be. They easily slipped through us, and could withstan--" Papyrus was cut off with what sounded like a huge crash. This sounded disturbingly close to you. Probably just outside this tall grass. You edged closer to the edge of the grass and peeked through.

You saw a blue fish-lady with fiery red hair, wearing black armor stuff. She also had an eyepatch. She looked beyond pissed. The crash you heard was a large, red spear that looked like it was made out of magic or energy or something that was wedged in the ground between Sans and Papyrus, who were both there, getting yelled at by this fish woman. This must be Undyne! 

The skeleton brothers looked like they could be in danger from her. While they were also out for your soul.... You didn't want anyone to get hurt. You but your lip in deep thought. Should you go out there and try to help them? 

Finally, you decided yes, you should, and jumped out, brandishing your stick with a yell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Debating if Undyne should befriend you and sort of protect you, or if it should be more fighting as usual.... Hmm.... Ideas?


	7. Undyne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually fun to write. Thanks to mortoboe who suggested this in the comments! ^_^
> 
> Also! There is some more adult language, and I don't know if you would consider it mature or not, so I upped the rating just in case.

Your heroic jump-and-yell-with-stick had Flowey yelling at you that you were a total idiot. That thought _did_ cross your mind... You brought said stick down onto the pissed-off fish woman, and it... Didn't do much. Well. It certainly brought attention to you. The fish woman-you were assuming this was Undyne, because Flowey's shout of "WHAT ARE YOU DOING ATTACKING UNDYNE YOU ABSOLUTE _MORON_?!" rang out in the air as your poor stick broke-whipped around with obvious surprise. Sans burst into laughter, laughing so hard he nearly fell over. 

"Wow-hahahaaaaa-kiddo.... I-I dihehehedn't think you had that in ya, hahaaaaaa!" He grinned widely through his laughter. "Who knew you were that stupid?" He continued with a snort. Papyrus smacked the back of Sans' skull with his hand with a frown, but there was a small twinkle of amusement in his eye sockets. 

"WHAT THE HELL, YOU LITTLE PUNK?!" Undyne shouted at you as you stumbled backwards. You shot Sans a glare, and turned your frightened expression to Undyne. Her eyes seemed to widen with shock, and then a malicious grin covered her features. "Oh, you're the human, aren't you? Well this'll be fun. I'll kill you and take your soul! Straight to Asgore!!" She snarled, a red energy spear appearing in her hand. She threw it at you, and you shrieked, diving to the side. The skeleton brothers had backed up, but were sticking around. To watch? This whole place was full of sick monsters. "STAND STILL!" She shouted. 

"Like hell!" You shouted back, standing your ground. For now. You figured you would have to run soon enough, but for now... You'd hold out. Probably. 

"Remind me WHY you jumped at THE LEADER OF THE _ROYAL GUARD_?!" Flowey yelled at you. He was angry, but also he was scared. You could hear it in his voice. 

"I-I wanted to help!" You yelped as you dodged two more energy spears. 

"Help. The skeletons. Who are trying. To kill you. _Brilliant_." The flower shook his head, and then yelped himself as he flew off your arm, hitting a wall and slumping down. 

"HEY!" You turned your attention to Sans. You knew he did it, throwing Flowey with his magic. "This doesn't involve you!" He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets innocently. 

"Too much talking." Was his simple answer. A spear smacked into the ground directly in front of you and you jumped back with surprise. No more talking to the skeleton brothers. 

"PAPYRUS, YOU BONEBAG, COME AND HELP ME!" Undyne snapped, and he stepped forward with a frown. 

"Undyne... I'll be taking the humans soul." He crossed his arms over his black armor. She laughed. 

"Look, let's kill the human first, and then decide on that." She grinned with her sharp teeth. Papyrus shrugged, stepping into the fight. Sans could only start laughing again, knowing his brothers true intentions. 

Papyrus used magic to make bones appear and you groaned. Again with this crap. You dodged and nearly got stabbed in the stomach by a spear. Now you had to deal with both of them?! Dodging left, right, and center, you got nicked and scraped on occasion. It stung, but it was manageable for a while... All those started to add up, wearing on your stamina. Your movements started to get slow, sloppy. That's when things got... Weird? It seemed like Papyrus' attacks got in the way of Undyne's, and her attacks got in the way of Papyrus'. They seemed to be fighting each other to see who would finish this! 

"HEY! LAZYBONES! ATTACK THE _HUMAN_ , DON'T BLOCK MY ATTACKS!" 

"Look, gillsack, I'm gonna finish this and take her soul, not you." Papyrus was also mad, growling even, but not quite yet yelling like Undyne. Taking this opportunity while they were arguing and throwing attacks at each other, you slowly backed up until you reached where Flowey had fallen. 

"Hey. Are you okay?" You asked your flower friend. He nodded weakly. 

"I-I'm okay. A little banged up, but I think I'm okay. I'm sorry, I'm not much help... Just really scared. And also, I'm too weak to use my magic." He did his best imitation of a shrug. You lifted him gently and laid him around your neck, like a scarf like he had been during your trip through Snowdin. You figured that he was too weak to stay on your arm like before. Sans, luckily, hadn't noticed you moving around behind the scenes of the battle. He seemed amused by the fact that Undyne and his brother were fighting. Good. He was distracted. You could probably sneak away and run for it, again. You started to inch away, back to the tall grass where you could hide, and better sneak around, and Sans locked eyes with you. Instead of stopping, you turned and darted into the tall grass. 

Sans chuckled darkly, again, under his breath. While his brother and Undyne fought for the right to kill and take your soul, you had slipped away, and he witnessed it. You were clever, he would admit that much. More than he expected. With a strange feeling he couldn't place, he used his teleportation powers to teleport himself into the tall grass you had hidden yourself in. Why was it always you two? Always him chasing poor you... Why hasn't he killed you yet? You decided if you had the chance, you would ask him. You crouched in the tall grass, up against a wall. In hindsight, that was stupid. You basically cornered yourself. You heard the rustling of the grass around you, and watched with wide eyes as the grass on all sides of you rustled and moved around. "Look, kid, you're a lot more clever than I originally thought. I gotta give you credit there. But, look... Pap and Undyne are on a war path now." You heard Sans' voice in the grass. "You're pretty much fucked. I'm not saying I'm saving your ass either. But a warning." He shrugged, but you didn't see it. "I'm not your friend." He added with a deep frown. "I dunno. Got a weird feelin' about you, brat." 

You sat extremely still, unsure of how to react to this. Finally, you find your voice, even though Flowey slapped you with his leaves. "Why haven't you killed me yet, if you want my soul so bad?" You asked quietly, just loud enough to be heard over the still-ongoing fight. All that greeted you was silence. But then...

"I really don't know, you damn brat. If you wanna get out of here, run past my bro and Undyne. They... Probably won't notice. I'll tell them eventually that you must have escaped. I'll have hell to pay, but... Heh." His face popped up right in front of yours and you screamed, but he covered your mouth. "They'll hear you, idiot. Go." You nodded, and he backed off. You stood, adjusted your backpack, and took off running. You ran straight by Undyne and Papyrus, who weren't throwing attacks, but were having a shouting match now. You ran, and ran, until you reached a place that was very red, very warm/hot, and there seemed to be fire and lava everywhere. 

"This place has so many surprises for me..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Sans changing a little? Ha, no. He's still a bit of an ass. But, maybe something's happening...


	8. Hot Hot Hotland

"I recognize this place! We're in Hotland." Flowey commented from his usual position on your shoulders. You nodded thoughtfully. It made sense to your mind, seeing as it was very red and orange and yellow, and also quite warm. Oh, yeah, and also covered in lava. "You may want to take off that sweater, Frisk." He said smartly. You nodded again, absolutely agreeing. Snowdin was a good place for sweaters, but this was not. Stopping your trek behind a large boulder, you lifted your flower companion off your shoulders and gently set him on the ground. He dug his roots into the hard ground with a smile. You gave him a questioning look as you slipped off your over-sized brown sweater, revealing a short sleeved shirt underneath it. This meant you couldn't disguse yourself as well, but... At least you wouldn't die of heatstroke. "A way to heal myself, besides eating, is to root myself back into the ground for a short time." He explained, and frowned. "Although, this soil is really bad... Too dry." He did his version of a shrug again. 

"I see." You dug through your bag, looking for food yourself. With a triumphant noise, you pulled out a piece of Monster Candy. You munched on it thoughtfully as you slipped your bag back on. "Ready to go?" You asked him. He sighed. 

"I kinda miss the soil... But yeah. I wouldn't want to leave you on your own! Plus I don't want this soil anyways." He carefully unrooted himself, and you lifted him back onto your shoulders

"I'll get you a nice pot with some nice soil. I promise." You grinned at him and he smiled back. 

"I am glad I met a nice human." He said quietly as the two of you continued your journey. You gave him yet another questioning look, and he explained further. "I've heard nothing but bad about humans. They locked us all down here, treated us wrong... King Asgore made it seem like we should hate all of the humans. One day, a human fell down here. Her name was Chara, and she was a kind human. The King wanted to kill her, as she was a human, and maybe that would get us closer to the barrier. His wife, the Queen, insisted they don't kill the human. Kept her around, much like a servant. One day, she got sick... And died. Prince Asriel absorbed her soul, and then went to the surface. He never had respect for the human child, but, needing an excuse to get into a human village, he took her body to the surface with him. He wanted to kill all the humans, he wanted to destroy the surface and break the barrier while he was at it. Chara's soul fought back, protecting the ones she cared about in her home villiage. She fought back enough that he couldn't fight properly, and the humans attacked him until he was very weak. He returned to the Underground, defeated, and died. This only fueled the King's hatred for humans, and fueled the rest of the Undergrounds anger. Because the Queen insisted on keeping the human around, he blamed her for their sons death. He banished her to the Ruins, boldly claiming if she could bring a seventh human soul to him, he would release her from her banishment. This was assuming, of course, that somehow we got six other human souls, and assuming that a human would even cross her path." He told the whole story with a sad expression. "Ever since, I've never been able to meet a human, and had the impression that all humans were bad. I met one, in the Ruins, but Toriel got to them before I could warn them or befriend them."

You listened to the entire, sad story, and surprisingly felt tears appear in the corners of your eyes. "T-That's awful..." You mumbled. "I'm sorry that all happened this world. I..." You frowned. "If I could help, I would, but I wouldn't know how." You paused in your walking with a heavy sigh. It felt like you had only woken and started your day a few hours ago, and maybe it was just a few hours ago, but you were exhausted already. Looking around, you noticed what looked like some kind of sentry station in front of a bridge. It appeared empty, and based off of the random trash (Were those empty bottles of... Mustard...?) you assumed it was abandoned. You entered it quietly, and flopped down on the ground. Just in case someone walked by, you didn't want to be so easily spotted. 

"What are you doing?" Flowey asked you as you put him on the ground so you could relax, and you shrugged. 

"Taking a short break. Don't worry. I'm just tired. Plus there was that fighting earlier, really took it out of me. This seems abandoned, after all." You explained as you shut your eyes for a moment. Just for a moment... Yeah... 

You were asleep before too long. Oops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. I apologize. One more encounter from Sans, and then we meet Alphys!


	9. More and More Encounters

"Again with this brat." Sans muttered, arms crossed as he looked at your sleeping form on the floor of his sentry station in Hotland. Flowey had snuggled into your backpack and had also fallen asleep. "It's like she seeks me out, or seeks trouble out." He shook his head, wondering if he should bother waking you up or not. He _was_ supposed to be working here, running the tolls for the bridge. Some sort of plan cooked up by... Who again? He couldn't exactly remember right now... He didn't feel like working, so he didn't mind the intrusion. Being careful to not wake you (no, he didn't give a shit about you, he just didn't want to deal with you... Yeah that was it) he settled into the chair in the station and soon was asleep himself.

Imagine your surprise when you woke up and almost screamed. Stopping yourself before you did, though, you stared with wide eyes. Sans was asleep, snoring away, in a chair, less than five feet from you. Wasting exactly zero time, you snatched up a just-woken and confused Flowey and your bag and bolted as quietly as possible. Not stopping until you were safely across the bridge, you let out a very shaky breath. "Oh, that was too close." You mumbled. 

Flowey nodded. "I agree! That was stupid of you! Falling asleep, in a sentry station?! Someone was bound to come there eventually!" He snapped at you, smacking your face with his leaves. Honestly, it didn't hurt, it was just annoying. You sighed heavily, started to walk again. 

"Look, I'm sorry, I think I was more exhausted than I realized." You tried to explain, and then stopped, craning your head back. In front of you was a massive white building. It stood out like a sore thumb in this red-orange landscape. 

"Whoa." Flowey's eyes were huge, taking this building in. 

"Let's go through it." You suggest. Another leaf smack. 

"Don't be stupid." 

The other paths that branched off looked dangerous, and also there were two large, buff-looking guard type monsters decked out in black armor coming down one of those paths. "No time to argue with me, Flowey! I see two guards and a dangerous path. Through the white building we go!" You darted to the doors, pulling them open and stepping inside. 

It was very dark inside, and smelled strongly of... What was that? You couldn't quite place it. "Blood. I smell blood." Flowey whispered fearfully. Ah, yes. Blood and cleaning supplies. You could just barely make out the inside of the building. It was pretty cluttered from what you could see. Taking careful, slow steps inside, you froze when the lights suddenly flickered on. You wish they stayed off. Besides the stacks of paper, food trash, and other trash, there was spots and puddles of blood and other liquids you decidedly did not want to get aquatinted with. There was movement in front of you, and you focused your attention there. 

"Oh. Ohhhhh. This is perfect! Hello, hello! I've been waiting for this, oh yes! Welcome, human." A short, yellow lizard-like creature came stumbling forth, messing with their lab coat. It had patches of red too. Blood? You shuddered at the thought of it. They also wore glasses with strange spirals on the glass. "My name is Alphys! I'm the Royal scientist." She announced proudly. You assumed this was a girl, based on the higher pitch of voice. "You've been on quite the adventure. All those encounters with the skeletons and then Undyne!" You would swear till your dying day they seemed to swoon when they said Undyne's name. 

"Uh. Hi. I'm--" you start to say, and she just jumped forward, shaking your hand rapidly. 

"I know! You're Frisk! And this is your flower companion, Flowey. I've been... Observing." She grinned, and it reminded you of a mad scientist from movies and stuff.

"Okay. Nice to meet you... Alphys. I should be going, I didn't see a way to proceed except for coming through here." You explained, looking a bit uncomfortable. She nodded excitedly, dragging you through her lab/home. 

"Oh, yes, the way through to the next area is through my lab! Unless you used the north path, I suppose... Hmm... What fun is an easy path?!" She giggled, almost sounded deranged to your ears. "I've always wanted to meet a human. Come, come!" She pulled you through a couple hallways and finally you entered a small room with some kind of medical table with various instruments. Some... Looked bad. "Sit, sit, make yourself comfortable! You're safe here. See I've always wanted a human friend. You're the rarest thing down here! It would be sooooo cool to be your friend! So I won't tell anyone you're here." 

You consider her words for a moment. "I'll be your friend Alphys, if I can stay here for a day or so. I need to rest, badly. And I need a safe place to do that." You explain as you sit on the table carefully. Flowey frowned at you, but said nothing just yet. 

Alphys only smiled brightly. "Of course, of course!! Safe, safe, safe... I just... Wanna run a few tests? Pleaseeeeeeee?" She was basically bouncing on her toes. Claws? Claws. 

"Are these gonna hurt her?" Flowey finally spoke up. "Because she's already hurt." 

"Oh! You're hurt! Wait wait wait I can fix this! Let me fix this up, and then when you are 100% we can run the tests! I want perfect results! Once in a lifetime oppertunity, after all!" Another deranged giggle, sifting through the tools to find less deadly looking objects. "Now. Where are you hurt?" 

You showed her your shoulder injury from the Ruins-much better now, but should be looked at-and some of your bigger scrapes and stuff. Alphys used bandages and some kind of cream, which she assured you would only help and not hurt, on the worst of it and you really did feel a lot better at this point. "Thank you Alphys." You said kindly. 

"Oh! Anything for my new friend! Come, come, let me give you the grand tour!!" And she did just that. The only thing that wasn't shown to you was the basement, with a warning. "Don't ever go down there, Frisk. _Especially_ at night." Her face and tone were very serious for a few moments, before another giggle escaped. "Okay! So, I've got one bed. I won't make you take the floor or couch..." She glanced around with a shy smile. "Yeah... It's not too tidy, I'm sorry. So! Sharing a bed it is!" She dragged you to her room, which was also fairly messy, but not as gross. And the bed was clear, at least. You almost groaned at the sight of an _actual bed_. 

"Oh, bless you Alphys." You muttered, collapsing on the bed. You weren't tired, not after your earlier nap. You just wanted to feel the bed and sighed happily. Comfort, for the first time in a few days (has it really only been a few days?) meant so much to you right now.


	10. Authors note

Sorry for not putting up a new chapter yet. I'm going through some personal stuff right now. I've found out my uncle, who I'm very close to, has a year and a half left to live. Also, some crap with some personal relationships. So, I'm sorry. I've got half of the next chapter written but I am working on it. It's been a tough couple of days. I'll get it up ASAP though! Thank you for all your support!!


	11. Another Authors Note

I'm really, really sorry everyone. Thanks for all the support and kind comments. There were the holidays, and then I took a trip to Texas (a 12 hour drive mind you) with some family to see some family. I found out while I was there that my great uncle Bill is sick with skin cancer for the fourth time. He's very old, and this is really bad. He doesn't have a lot of time left. I'm about to lose two people I really care about possibly within the same year. It's been a lot to take in and deal with. On top of all my personal problems I'm sure you care nothing about, this next chapter is giving me absolute fits. Mettaton doesn't like to be written, I guess. I can't seem to get him down the way I want. If you have ideas I'd love to hear them. I mean I've got some myself, but they don't seem to want to be written the way I see it in my minds eye. 

Long story short, I'm having a lot of personal stuff that's sapping my motivation right now, and Mettaton is being stupid.

Lots of love, Sylph_of_Space


	12. Oh, Dear...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mettaton, anyone?

"So I have things to do! Things, yes... Things." Alphys giggled again. "Buuuuuuttttttttt! Make yourself at home, relax, eat something... Just don't go in the basement." She hurried out of the room, and went to the basement with a slam of the door. You blinked after her, and struggled to get out of the bed. It was just so nice... 

"Let's put some supplies together for whenever we have to leave. We may have to leave in a hurry. I don't trust her." Flowey said with a dark expression.

"She seems to be friendly to me. The basement thing freaks me out a little, but she seems okay. Crazy, but okay." You explain, but started to make your way to the kitchen area. Yep. Totally cluttered here too. At least it wasn't gross in here with mysterious liquids, like a lot of the lab seemed to be. You looked through the cabinets for foods you could take with you, and while you did that, you decided to fix yourself some of the instant noodles she had. You remove the instant noodles from their packaging. You put some water in a pot and place it on the heat. You wait for the water to boil. 

...

...

...

...It's boiling. You place the noodles into the pot. 4 minutes left until the noodles are ready. 

3 minutes left until the noodles are ready.

2 minutes left until the noodles are ready. 

1 minute left until the noodles are ready. 

The noodles are done! ... They don't taste very good. You add the flavor packet. That's better. Not great, but better. 

"That took a lot longer than necessary." Flowey commented dryly from your shoulder. You pat his petals softly as you munch on the not-great noodles. You stick some instant noodles and flavor packets into your bag. Maybe they would be better dry. 

"Well, now I've got some food, so it's all good." You grinned widely, and opened her fridge to see if she had something to drink. You shrieked, slamming the door shut. Nope, nope, nope. You were _not_ opening that door again. There were... Body parts, and bags of... You shuddered, not wanting to think about that at all. Tap water it was. Finding a clean glass-as clean as it was gonna get-you filled it with water and sipped on it thoughtfully. 

The glass almost slipped out of your grip when you heard a crash through a wall. You peeked curiously and carefully into the next room. There was... You weren't sure what exactly you were looking at. It was a robot-looking thing, and it was... A man? It had four eyes, had four arms, ridiculous legs, and seemed to be moving around frantically. "Let me guess. No matter how much I ask you not to go and check it out, you're gonna go and check it out." Flowey muttered and you just nodded, slowly walking in. 

"Oh, no no no... Alphys!" He yelled, running down to the basement. His voice was very mechanical sounding, and grated on your nerves a little. 

"That... Was weird." You shrug. You hear strange noises, like conversation between the robot thing and Alphys and also other noises that you didn't like. There was more crashing noises, and as a result, the same robot came back upstairs. He looked absolutely frazzled. 

"You! You're a human! You're not safe, no matter how much you might think you are. Alphys is dangerous, and she'll... She'll..." The robot stopped, and seemed to twitch violently. Two of his eyes that were closed opened now, and the other two that were open had closed. His yellow arms seemed to drop to his sides, and the red ones seemed to be mostly used. "A human, here..." It's voice was decidedly darker and deeper, now. "Now, you'll have to die, I'm afraid. Sorry dearie, that's the way show business works." Show business...? What? You don't have much time to question things, because you had to dodge an attack. 

"ALPHYS!" You shouted, as the robot came after you. 

"Come now, darling, your soul will help everyone! Just... Give it up. To me!" A dangerous giggle escaped the robot and you turned tail, running to the basement. Yes, you remembered being told not to go there... That's just where you ended up.

"Why do you do these things to me, Frisk?" Flowey groaned. "This basement is far too creepy! Besides we were told _NOT_ come down here!" 

"Shut up! You want Crazy to catch us?" You motioned to the robot still following you with dangerous eyes and a creepy-ass smile. 

"Alphys will catch us down here! She scares me too!" 

"Oh well! She can stop the damn thing!" You hear what sounded like gurgles of pain and begging ahead of you. The basement was creepy as hell. It was very dark, you were sure you stepped in things more than once, and you kept hearing things...

Finally, you burst through a door and found Alphys. Her lab coat was more stained than it was before, and there was a person-er, monster-on the table in front of her. 

"Ohhhhh Frisk! Hello, hello. I told you not to come down he-- METTATON!" She shouted, waving around a sharp instrument in frustration. "YOU CAN'T KILL THE HUMAN YET, I HAVEN'T RUN MY TESTS!! GO ON, GET OUT OF HERE!" She then threw the sharp instrument at the robot who you assumed was 'Mettaton'. 

"But Alphys.... I wanted to take their soul!" His voice, which sounded strange to you, like it was several voices speaking at once, whined. 

"GET OUT!!" She shouted again, looking crazy. The robot, surprisingly, obeyed, and left. "Now, now, now.... Frisk! You broke the one rule I had... Don't come down here." Her glasses flashed dangerously, making her look even scarier and crazier than before. She grabbed your arm with a bloodied hand, and Flowey in the other, dragging you to a different room. It was a bit cleaner, but no less creepy. She tied you down to the bed with a menacing grin, and hung poor Flowey upside-down from the ceiling. "I've got to run my tests on you! Besides, you'd run now that you saw my experimenting with other monsters! So I have to keep you now!" She giggled. "I'll be back! Don't go anywhere~" And she left. 

"This. Is your. Damn fault." The irate flower growled. 

"Shut it. I'm gonna get us out of here, I just..." You struggle against the bonds, but they are tight! "Can you wiggle out?" You asked your flower friend. He shook his petal-lined head quickly, and you frowned. This was a pickle. You heard screams and shouts from that poor monster Alphys had trapped here to experiment on, and your heart broke for them. 

After what seemed like absolute ages, the door opened. You feared it was Alphys, or worse, that robot. It was, in fact, that damn robot. He looked different. Calmer. Two of his eyes were open again, but they didn't look angry or crazed. The yellow arms were being used. Maybe he had some sort of split personality? "Oh my, dear human, I am so sorry you were treated this way! I'm gonna free you, don't worry." You must have looked terrified, because his expression softened. "Look, I must have scared you earlier... I'm really nice and hold no real grudge against humans. Alphys made me, though, and put a hatred of humans in my circuits. So, I guess you could say I have some sort of split personality? You'll know when the other one comes out... A-Anyways! I want to help you. I do. But if I become hateful again, and attack you, you must run. Alphys can sometimes control me too, and she may use me to hurt you." He explained as he untied you and released Flowey. Flowey slapped him with his leaves and he only chuckled, like he knew that wast coming. Flowey resumed his place on your shoulders with a glare at the robot.

"Thank you." You were wary around him, but you were grateful that he was being kind and releasing you. 

"The best way out is through the back of the lab. You should hurry before she catches you again. She is kind, but crazy, and preforms all sorts of... Horrible experiments." The robot visibly shuddered. "I can't follow you, but you'll see me again. I'll help you." He promised, before disappearing in the darkness of the basement. Following the robots advice, you hurried the hell out of that basement. You found the bag you were so thankful you packed before in the kitchen area and slung it on your back. 

"You WHAT?!" You heard Alphys shout. Terrified she found out you were released, you ran. An alarm went off as you ran through the door, but nothing stopped you yet. You ran, and ran and ran. It was still hot, you noticed. What hellish person would you encounter next? At least Mettaton was somewhat nice, in a weird way.


	13. Not Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for my absence. Relationship issues, continuing family crap, got my wisdom teeth out, school work. The usual.

**Sans**   
Sans woke up, not too long after you had escaped the little sentry-station-turned-toll-booth, and quietly noted you were gone. Wait, stop that. He doesn't care. However, he was mildly curious about how you would manage Alphys, and that crazy bipolar robot. What was it's name again...? He couldn't exactly remember. Oh well. His brother Papyrus chose this moment to visit him at his little station in Hotland, and he felt lucky he had woken up before his brother showed up. He loved his bro, he did, but his bro could be mean sometimes. 

"Brother. How goes the tolls today?" Papyrus asked. He was scratched up from the fight with Undyne, which ended when the pissed off fish woman slammed him into the rock wall so hard it left a Pap-shaped indent and she walked away. 

"'t's quiet, bro." Was the smaller skeleton's response. He took a swig of the conveniently located mustard bottle that was in the booth-thing with him. "Do ya think the human made it past Alphys, or did she get stuck as an experiment?" He shot his brother a mildly curious look. 

"I do not know, but she cannot be allowed to become an experiment for that lizard. We'll never see her, and Alphys will never kill her. Thus, we can never take her soul, and free ourselves from this underground prison." He crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing, the scar over his one eye seeming more pronounced for some reason. 

"You think we should pay ol' Alph a visit, and see if the human is there?" Sans asked, putting the mustard bottle down. He wanted the humans soul, that's all. He wanted to leave the underground and slaughter the humans for what they did. Yeah, that was it. Not like he cared one iota about you. Never. "Here's an idea. We find the human, and pretend to be friends with her. Lead her straight to Asgore with the promise of friendship. She's headed there anyways, right? Only way out is through that barrier. She's stupid, she'll buy into it. Then, we can take her soul right to Asgore, still livin' and all, and he'll be so impressed with you." He suggested with a somewhat menacing grin. 

Papryus seemed to think deeply for a moment, before nodding slowly. "It is not a bad idea, brother. And very vicious, for certain. Come, let us visit a certain yellow dinosaur." He turned and marched down the wooden bridge with a proud and tall stance. Sans shuffled along behind him, starting to have doubts about killing the human. Wait, no, there couldn't be any doubts! This was his one-way ticket to the surface. To killing humans, and seeing the sky. He would never tell his cruel, badass brother, but he wondered what the sky looked like. This would be a chance to not lose the human again, of course. And sort of... Protect them. Not that it would matter in the end. The human would have to die, because that human could never kill another monster to leave the Underground. Much too nice. 

_"Why haven't you killed me yet, if you want my soul so bad?"_

_"I really don't know."_

The two skeleton brothers walked into the lab like they owned the place, and Alphys was there to greet them, working furiously on her computer. "Yes, yes, hello Sans and Papryus, I'm not surprised to see you two here. Well, Papryus I'm surprised by, how are you up and moving after the beatdown Undyne gave you?" The lizard snickered and Papyrus frowned. "Isn't she just the coooooooolest? Oh, wish she'd come by sometime!" Another crazy giggle. 

"Have you seen the human?" Papyrus wasted no time in cutting straight to business. 

"The human, the human. The stupid, puny human who managed to escape my grasp... I was so close, you know, so close to my experiments and tests and ohhhhhh I would have done it! I would have figured out Determination and how it works and I would have been honored by the entire Underground! But no no nononono, she just _had_ to escape, thanks to Mettaton, the worthless piece of scrap metal he is, I should have never finished that project, or I should have destroyed him a long time ago--" Her crazy rambling was cut short by Sans storming across the lab to pick up Alphys by the front of her lab coat and slam her into the wall. 

"Look, you worthless lizard who has no right to the title "Royal Scientist", was the human here or not?" He growled. 

"Y-Yes she was, and I captured her! Mettaton released her, for no real reason, and now she's off in Hotland, heading for the Core! I've set many traps and puzzles for her, so she is sure to never reach Asgore, and she'll die and we'll have her soul! Mettaton may be helping her, but with his personality switches and my control, I don't think he'll be too much help... OH LOOK THE HUMAN HAS REACHED A LASER PUZZLE they'll never solve this one. They'll be injured or killed soon enough!" A string of absolutely insane giggles escaped Alphys and Sans dropped her, looking at the screen. Indeed, you were on it, standing in front of a bunch of lasers, blues and oranges. Sans knew what to do for these, but you didn't. 

"C'mon, bro, before she kills herself and we miss our opportunity." Sans muttered, walking towards the exit of the lab. He heard a shout, and turned around. On screen, you had gotten badly hurt by the laser when you tried to go through, it seems. It was a blue laser, and you tried to move through it. "Shit, she's gonna kill herself! Bro, I'm gonna teleport to her. We'll meet up with you." And in the blink of an eye, Sans was gone. 

**You (Frisk)**

Oh jeez, that hurt. A lot. Your arm felt like it was absolutely on fire. You must've burned it pretty badly on that laser-like thing. How were you supposed to get through this? You go back a few meters and sit down by a large rock. It was hot here, and you were miserable. Hot and slightly burned in a few places (most monsters in this area were very fiery. Literally.) and now badly burned, with no way to fix it. No cold water or anything. 

"Ah haaaa.... This is stupid." You slump a little. "I'll never make it to Asgore, I'll never make it out of here, Flowey." 

Your flower travel companion on your shoulder smiled sadly. "We'll make it! There's some hotel up at the end of Hotland I think, we can fix everything there!" He encouraged you. "You gotta get up and move though." He glanced around, a little bit nervously. "I'm afraid we'll run into another Pyrope or Vulkin." Flaming rope and tiny volcano. Neither were nice to fight. 

There was a pop noise and you looked up. Your tired eyes widened, with surprise and fear, and Flowey visibly shrunk back on your shoulders, almost like he was trying to hide in your hair. He found you? Again? Here? You didn't think you could run this time. Lasers ahead, crazy scientist behind... You had nowhere to go, but to face him head on. Would you die here? Would all of this been totally irrelevant because you knew you'd never make it. You'd be stopped somehow, someway. This had to be it, right?

"Hey, brat."


	14. Back To Snowdin?

You closed your eyes tightly. He had been wanting to kill you since the beginning, and now nothing could stop him. But... Nothing happened. So you peeked one eye open, and he seemed to be studying you. More specifically, your arm. 

"How the fuck did you make it this far if you're so clumsy and stupid?" Well that was rude. 

"Rude." You muttered, voicing your thoughts. "There are lasers over there. I can't get through them. I got burned. Are you finally going to kill me now?" You asked, almost dejectedly. Flowey had, surprisingly, stayed fairly quiet, but was glaring at the skeleton quite a bit. 

"Nah." Sans grinned, his sharp teeth showing. "My bro and I decided to help you get to Asgore. It'll be interesting to see if you can get past _him_." At your confused and curious look, he scowled. "Don't read too much into it, kid." 

"I'm not a kid." You grumbled. He held his hand out to you, and you simply stared at it. 

"You're burned badly, and you won't get far with that untreated. Best way to treat that is water or something cold. So, take my damn hand so I can take you back to Snowdin." He snapped. Even being somewhat kind, he was still an ass. 

"We should trust you why?" Flowey finally spoke up. 

"Look at it this way: I can tell you how to get past the lasers, and lead you to Asgore, as well as help you right now, or I can leave you to your own devices and you'll die. Or, I guess I could kill you. You'll just have to take your chances, won't ya?" His grin was almost cheeky now. You grabbed his hand finally, and felt a weird sensation, like you were being pulled sharply through darkness, and it was hard to breathe for a moment. Suddenly, the red, cracked land of Hotland wasn't there. It was the soft, fluffy, white snow-covered ground of Snowdin. You looked at Sans in almost awe. "Teleportation." He shrugged. 

"Teleportation. Right. Totally normal." You blinked, the white landscape throwing you off a little. You scooped up some snow and put it on your arm with a slight hiss. It hurt like hell, but the snow also felt good on the overly-warm burn. 

"Don't do that. It's too cold, it'll shock your system." Sans chastised you. You gave him a look, and he frowned. "What? I'm assuming it's the same for humans like it is for monsters who actually have skin." 

"You care. Does this make us friends?" You teased and he scowled, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

"Fuck no." He growled, trudging through the snow. "C'mon, let's go." 

"Wait, where?" You asked, but followed, ignoring Flowey's worried mumbling. 

"My house. Cold water and bandages is what you need." 

"So you try to kill me, chase me down, and injure me, and now you help me. I don't get it, friend." You intentionally called him 'friend' just to piss him off. It worked. 

"Not friends. I took an interest in ya. You're the most interesting thing by far to happen to this place in a long time. You'll never make it to the castle without help anyways. Undyne would never help you, Alphys is nuts, that damn robot of hers is unpredictable. My bro and I are your best bet." He smirked. "You're stuck with us, human." 

"I've got a name, you know. Frisk." You point out. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The two of you, plus Flowey, reached his house. It was small-ish, with two stories. You followed him inside, grateful for the warmth that was in there. It was cold outside, and you were dressed for Hotland, not Snowdin. Without being told to do so, you made yourself comfortable on the couch. There was a tv in front of it. The house was fairly neat, with a few things left about and messy. There were three doors upstairs, you noted, and assumed it was bedrooms and maybe a bathroom. Did skeletons need a bathroom? Hmm.... You weren't sure, actually. 

Sans came over with a first aid kit and a small bowl of cold water. He-surprisingly gentle-used the cold water on the burn, drawing out the heat. It felt so much better and you visibly relaxed because of it. Then, he wrapped it with bandages. You were surprised by his kindness and gentleness. He wasn't scowling or smirking. He looked calm, but focused on the task at hand. He could deny friendship all he wanted, but you were _so_ friends. 

"Where's your brother?" You asked suddenly, noticing the absence of the taller, slightly scarier skeleton. 

"I left 'im at Alphys' lab, and found you in Hotland. So, he's... Probably in Hotland at this point, looking for us." He said thoughtfully, pulling the bandage tight and putting the rest of the first aid stuff away. "There." He nodded with a slight smirk. 

"Thank you." You said sincerely. He said nothing at this point, standing to put everything away. 

"D'you want to head back to Hotland now? I'm sure your damn tired of monsters and the Underground. You wanna go home." He said, almost solemnly, in a much more serious tone that threw you off. "It's not gonna be easy. Gettin' through Hotland, and the Core. Lots of traps are set, thanks to that stupid lizard. You pissed her off pretty good. And then Asgore himself will be hell." 

You blinked at him, his friendliness and warning still throwing you off. "I can do it, I think." You nodded firmly, a sense of determination filling you. "I can do it. I can get through." 

"Asgore isn't gonna let you just leave. You'll have to fight him. You can't talk your way out of that one, or slip by." He warned you. 

"I'll find a way. I don't want to hurt anyone if I don't have to." Then you had a thought. "Do you have a flower pot?" 

What? That was incredibly random. "Why the fuck would I have a flower pot? Why do you need one?" He scowled again. 

"I told Flowey I'd find him a nice flower pot and put dirt in it so he can travel in dirt." You said simply. He just stared at you. 

"Humans are so fucking weird. Maybe there's one in the shed. It's out back." 

You stood up excitedly. "Oh, I love traveling on your shoulders, Frisk, but I miss dirt." Flowey smiled as the two of you went to the shed outside. Sure enough, there was a cracked flower pot there. You dug up the snow and found the soft dirt beneath it, and filled the pot with the dirt. Flowey happily hopped into the dirt and wriggled down into it with a deep sigh. "Oh this feels so much better. I should be back to my full strength soon!" You lifted the flower pot and carried it back inside the house. Sans was still there, and he seemed to be deep in thought. 

"We can go now." You said quietly, interrupting his thought. He looked a little startled at your sudden appearance, but nodded. You settled Flowey's pot in your backpack-which surprisingly lasted this long-and took his outstretched hand, feeling the tug of teleportation again. You were back where you were before: in front of the lasers. Papyrus was walking towards this location too. 

"Ah, there you are Sans. The human is okay?" Papyrus asked, showing slight concern. For Papyrus, the concern was fake. For Sans, it was all too scarily real. 

"Yeah, damn brat got a little burned but she's fine now." He shrugged, adopting an indifferent attitude. 

"Once again, I have a name. It's still Frisk." You point out, crossing your arms. Neither skeleton brother gave you a second glance at that comment. 

"So the lasers. You see the blue ones? If you stand still when they pass you, you'll be fine. The orange ones you have to actually move through. I promise you'll be fine." Sans explained to you. You nodded slowly. Flowey voiced more concerns, but Sans had been kind to you. A friend to you. You had to trust his word now. So carefully, oh so carefully, you approached the laser puzzle. You did as he said for each color, having a couple close calls, but made it through that puzzle. On the other side, you could turn it off, so you did so. The skeletons walked over to you easily, now that there were no lasers in the way of travel. 

"How much further is the castle with the famous Asgore in it?" You asked curiously. Papyrus scoffed at your casual comments about the king. 

"Through Hotland, and then the Core, which powers all of the Underground. So... Not much more before the Core, I think." Sans explained with a bored tone. "There's some hotel thing at the entrance to the Core. You could stop there if you wanted." 

You nodded thoughtfully, gripping the straps of your backpack. Filled with determination again, you marched forward, with the skeleton brothers behind you. One was only thinking of taking your soul, and the other was amused by your antics, thinking you were actually kind of cute with how much you were determined to get through this. 

Sans was so fucked.


	15. Spiders

Traveling through the Underground was a bit easier with the skeleton brothers. While you tried to my fight, and ran away from monsters who wouldn't accept any form of mercy from you, these two would fight, and did so. Papyrus would fight off some monsters here and there, but Sans seemed to be the more concerned one. When confronted privately by his brother, he swore it was all fake, but in reality, he _did_ care. And he fucking hated it. You, however, didn't know of their plan and their act and just thought they were being kind. That you finally got through their thick skulls.

"Papyrus..." You started to speak, catching his attention.

"Yes, human?" He looked down at you, and you were reminded of just how imposing he was.

"Thank you for helping me." You have him a genuine smile, which seemed to catch him completely off guard. "It means a lot, and things are a little easier. Plus, I'm less likely to get totally lost." You added, adjusting your backpack slightly. It was a little heavier due to Flowey being in it. The flower had fallen asleep at some point during the latest stretch of travel. "Tell me about Asgore." This question was directed to both of the skeletons. Sans seemed to slump a little with a scowl.

"He's our king, what more is there to say? He's the king for a reason, he is probably the most powerful monster in the Underground. A close second is either Undyne or my bro. They're mostly evenly matched." Sans shot a look at Papyrus, and he nodded. Sans seemed a little relieved that his brother took no offense to him implying Undyne was stronger.

"He banished his wife, Toriel, when she went soft on humans, after their son died. He said if she could bring him human souls and break the barrier, she could leave the Ruins. This is why I was so surprised to see a human passed the Ruins, I thought for sure she would have killed you." Sans continued with a shrug. "He's cruel, and wants this last human soul to destroy the human world above, and break the barrier." 

"...If you weren't so dead-set on destroying all the humans, I probably would have given you my soul. To free you guys." You admitted softly. Papyrus gave you a strange look, like you surprised him with that information. He wasn't expecting a human to be so kind, sympathetic. Sans gave you an almost grateful look. 

"That woulda been something." He laughed. You traveled through yet another elevator, after solving more puzzles. They mostly handled the fighting, but you were really good with puzzles. From the lasers (with a little help from Sans) to the steam-jumpy-things, to door-opener-shooty-things. Papyrus was impressed with your puzzle solving abilities, because he had a soft spot for puzzles. Not that he'd ever admit it. There was even a weird scare with a bunch of items that were bombs... Anyways, you were getting closer to the Core. The mysterious building off in the distance was getting closer. Actually, you lost sight of it at some point, but the skeletons assured you that you were getting closer to the Core. You really wanted to get out of the Core so you could rest. You were dead exhausted, having gone through Hotland all day. You got off the elevator and encountered a place that was more of a purple-red color. You walked down the path with the two skeletons behind you, A few spiderwebs could be spotted, which was strange. And then there were more vent-jumpy things! Yay! More shooty puzzles! Awesome! Not exactly. 

Through the next door you go. 

Then there's this weirdy dark hallway. The four of you (Skeletons + you + Flowey) enter, and you found yourself stuck in spider webs. "Ah, shit." Sans said, eloquently as always.

"Ahuhuhuhu. The skeleton brothers, caught in my trap? How interesting... And with a human!" A strange creature appeared before you, on a web themselves. It was a spider woman. Six arms, two legs. Corset-like outfit with a strange, but cool, skirt. Carrying a knife. Well, two. And a money bag. "Time to pay up." 

"Muffet, c'mon. I work the tolls for you!" Sans protested. You found yourself now trapped in a strange purple web, unable to escape. 

"And you've been stealing a little from me, haven't you? Ahuhuhu... No no, Sansy and Papyrus. You'll have to pay... Or _pay_." Small spiders rush out, and Sans does his best to protect you from them, as you were mostly defenseless. A knife flew at you, but was blocked by a bone, thanks to Papyrus. And thus, a fight ensued. 

"Asgore offered me a lot of money for the humans soul~ And I want that money!" 

"Ha, over my dead body." Sans said that one. 

"The humans soul belongs to us." And that one was Papyrus. 

Knifes and spiders and bones flew around the room, all while Muffet ranted about toll booths and spiders and something about spiders stuck in the Ruins as well. You were never a huge fan of spiders in the first place, but this was enough to give anyone nightmare fuel about the eight-legged creatures. By some miracle, you escaped the strange purple web. 

"Hey... Hey, stop!" You shouted, gaining the attention of Muffet. She looked like she wanted to kill you. She probably did. "What are you talking about? If I'm going to die anyways, what's the harm in telling me?" You reasoned, thinking it would be a good distraction, and also you were morbidly curious. 

"I run a toll booth. Two, actually. It's all about the money, after all. Sansy here runs one in Hotland, but I think he's been stealing money! Shame, _shame_." She tutted. "The money is because I want money, and to get the spiders that are being kept in the Ruins out. Toriel won't let them leave! But it's mostly because of the money." She grinned, and blinked each eye, one after the other. "Since I tire of fighting, my pet can fight." Her pet was a strange creature. Looked like a cupcake thing? You weren't sure how to describe it. But it was big, hungry, and chased you and the skeletons. Gripping your backpack straps tightly, you ran out of the room. Well. You tried. There were tons of spiderwebs slowing you down, but you went as fast as you could. The 'pet' almost actually got you and you screamed, making Sans stop dead in his tracks. He turned and saw you stuck, with thething closing in.

...

Then there was a blast of red magic and the thing was thrown backwards, badly injured. There was an animal-like skull floating above Sans, with his signature red magic surrounding the skull. It's mouth was open, as if it had released the magic from it's mouth. Then, it just disappeared. Sans grabbed your arm and tugged you out of the spiderwebs. "C'mon, kid, let's go!" And all of you ran out of the room, hearing Muffet let out an anguished cry over her injured pet. 

"That was incredibly stupid, brother!" Papyrus yelled, advancing on Sans when they were safe from the money-obsessed spider woman. "Bringing out a blaster for such a simple creature? Not only will you be drained now, but you revealed one of your more powerful attacks to Muffet! She will use that against you, you know she's manipulative!"

"Look, bro, I was trying to save the human, she wouldn't have gotten away on her own." Sans said defensively, holding up his hands to show he didn't mean any harm besides rescuing you. 

"I cannot believe you stole from that spider woman! We have plenty, and even then, you never steal from here. She has eyes everywhere and you know this!" Papyrus continued to yell at his brother and you watched, almost afraid to intervene. Then he rounded on you and you really _were_ afraid. "This is your fault, human. You have made my brother go soft!" 

"I-I didn't do anything!" You said defensively, backing up. 

"You might want to run." Flowey whispered in your ear from his pot in your bag. He must have woken up. Driven by the lingering affects of adrenaline from the fight with the spider woman and also your fear of the taller skeleton, you turned and sprinted away, ignoring Sans call for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw a head cannon for underfell Muffet that she had two toll booths: one in the Ruins and one in Hotland. That's how she got money and she was super manipulative and money-obsessed. I'd link the tumblr here but it seems to have shut down or something. It's strange.


	16. Traps

The next area you reached had a purple bricked tower structure, and you had a surprise waiting for you there. "Mettaton?" 

The robot in question faced you, and you were relieved to see he was his friendly self. "Oh, hello human! I'm sorry darling, I've forgotten your name." He smiled kindly at you, and you returned the smile. 

"It's Frisk." You answered. "What are you doing here?"

"Staying wise, and away from Alphys. I did not stay on her good side after my stunt earlier." His grin turned sheepish, but proud. You stepped forward, but you felt yourself falling down, down, down... You landed with an 'oomph' and a disgruntled noise from Flowey. 

"What the hell was that?" You grumbled, sitting up and rubbing your backside a little. That really hurt. 

"Frisk! Are you alright?" Mettaton yelled down at you in concern. "This must be one of the traps set by Alphys... I'm sorry! I know this place though, there are different colored tiles ahead of you. Do you see? Each one does something different. Yellow electrifies you, and blue is water, but water next to yellow is dangerous!" He rambled off the tile instructions through the hole you fell down, and you tried to remember each one, as did Flowey. A wall of fire appeared behind you, suddenly. "That's... That's not right. Uh, I'll fix this!" Mettaton rambled. "You try to get through the tiles first!" He added before disappearing. You didn't need to be told twice, hurrying through the tiles. Red walls stopped you, you got shocked more than once, and got your pants all soaked with the water. The fire was coming from both sides and it was closing in and you were stuck with no hope--

The fire stopped. And then disappeared. The colored tiles turned off and the floor became a solid grey color. Mettaton appeared with a heroic grin. "I turned off the tiles and hacked the fire too!" He announced rather proudly. You were so happy and ecstatic but that cheer disappeared when he twitched. Violently. "R-run Frisk." He managed to say before his more violent personality came out. You took tentative steps backwards, inching away slowly as the more evil version of Mettaton spoke. 

"Alphys hacked my mainframe and brought out this side of me but this side is much more fun, don't you agree, little human? If you remember, a green tile summons a monster... That monster is ME!" He lashed out at you and you dodged. You were getting quite good at the dodging thing. You heard Flowey mutter something and watched in awe as small, white pellets hit the crazed robot. 

"Traveling in dirt restored my energy and strength. I can use my magic again!" Flowey announced proudly. Unfortunately, the pellets didn't seem to do a whole lot, simply bouncing off the metal that made up Mettaton. "Well. Crap." And thus, you turned tail and ran, skillfully dodging as you did so. You didn't want to fight anyways, but especially not against one of the only monsters down here you'd go so far as to call a _friend_. This wasn't his fault really anyways. 

"You gotta run darling, I can hold Alphys off internally but not for long!" That was the kind Mettaton! 

"Oh you wish you pile of scrap." And that was the mean one, but it more sounded like Alphys speaking to Mettaton, through Mettaton. Weird. You didn't question things, instead giving him a very grateful look and charging out of the strange little tunnel thing you had gotten trapped in. 

You reached the top of the convenient staircase and noticed... An ice cream stand. What the hell, why not? You pay the disgruntled-but thankfully not murderous-Ice cream vendor and ate the cold treat. You felt a little better after eating it, even if the taste wasn't great. No sign of Mettaton. Good. You continued on your way, and this time you had a new surprise. 

"Is that a hotel?" You asked aloud. 

"Yeah, it is. MTT hotel. Full of monsters, you can't waltz in all human like." Sans' voice startled you greatly. "What, didya think we'd abandon you? Actually, my bro would apologize, but he's sulking like a kid inside while getting a room. Now, I gotta fix this whole human look..." He draped his black jacket over you, and you realize this is the first time you've seen him without it. "That'll help. Keep the hood up. Some monsters are dense as shit, but you don't wanna be outed in a building full of them." He instructed as he pushed you inside the hotel.

He wasn't wrong. It was pretty full of monsters. You could hear some complaining that the elevator into the city wasn't working, and you spotted doors down a hallway with a big, lit-up sign above them reading CORE. That's where you had to go next. There was a dining area to the left, and rooms for the hotel itself to the right. You saw Papyrus arguing with a monster at the front desk, probably over prices. "This is... Interesting." You commented lightly. Sans shrugged, crossing his arms. This was nothing new to him, probably. Papyrus marched over to the both of you now, obviously disgruntled. 

"200 gold for a night. A little better than what it normally is, but I still find that ridiculous." He looked down at you with a calculating look. "Sans, I do trust you, but I could only get two rooms. I do not want to leave the human alone. I will share a room with them." He said with a firm nod. Sans' response was to grab his brothers arm and pull him to the side. 

"Why?" He demanded. 

"You have let them escape far too many times, and you've grown softer around them. I can see it, brother, even if you cannot. I do promise... Not to harm them." He said, almost reluctantly. Seeing no real way to fight this, without fighting his brother, he sighed heavily but nodded. 

"Show us to the rooms, then." He grumbled, coming back to you. Papyrus did just that, and Sans made the executive decision to hang out in your room with Papyrus until everyone turned in for the night. One thing really got you excited though. 

"Oh thank everything that is good and wonderful in this world, there's a _shower_." You turned and faced the two skeletons with your hands on your hips. "If either of you so much as _think_ about coming into the bathroom while I'm showering, I'll forgo my whole 'don't fight' mindset and kick both of your asses into next week, and have a room to myself." With that comment, leaving a slightly stunned Papyrus and a smirking Sans, you went into the bathroom, locking the door behind you.

"Oh god I don't think I've ever been so excited to see a shower." You slipped off your backpack and smiled at Flowey. 

"Don't worry, I won't pay any attention to you, Frisk." He promised, even putting his leaves over his eyes. You gently put his flower pot to the side, facing away from the shower, before you stripped and got into the shower. The water warmed up quickly and you sighed happily. Using the provided washcloth, you washed away the dirt and dust and small bit of blood from your adventures. Your bandaged burn looked better, and you gently washed that as well. After washing out your hair (about damn time you got all that shit washed out) you finally turned off the water. You had to have been in the shower for almost an hour. You changed into clean clothes-you were running out of clean, undamaged clothes, you noted-and even slipped Sans' jacket back on with a cheeky grin to yourself. You put your bag back on, and picked up Flowey's flower pot, unlocking the door and walking out with a relaxed smile. 

"Hey brat." Sans greeted you. He was lounging on the bed. You waved happily. 

"Do you want your jacket back now?" You asked him, dropping your bag on the sofa and putting Flowey down where he could observe everything. He shrugged, not saying much. You dug around and luckily found bandages you stuck in your bag from Alphys' lab. You set to work rewrapping your burned arm to keep it protected. 

"Papyrus couldn't stand being in a room with me for an hour so he left. Probably grabbing a dinner in the hotel dining room. Wanna join him?" Sans offered, glancing at you. You tugged his jacket closer around you, and nodded. 

"Sure, let's grab something to eat." You were pretty hungry, after all. "Wanna come, Flowey?" You asked, and he shook his petal-lined head. With that, you and Sans headed to the dining area of the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A real Mettaton battle is coming, don't worry. I suck at fights, I'm sorry.


	17. Dinner (Date?) With The Skeletons

Sans was correct in his assumption that Papyrus had gone to the dining room of the hotel, so you and Sans joined him. Sans just sat down without saying a word, but you offered a quiet greeting before sitting. 

"Human... What do you plan on doing when you meet Asgore?" Papyrus finally asked, showing concern. Which was strange, for even him, your supposed friend. 

"Well I don't want to fight him... And as much as I want you guys to be there to help, I think I have to face him alone. I thought I'd try talking to him first. If nothing else I can run past him. I'm human, I can go through the barrier." You explained thoughtfully, as food was brought to your table. You didn't remember ordering anything. It was steak. Papyrus must have ordered the stuff for you. Wait, did skeletons need to eat? They didn't have stomachs... Off track, once again. 

"Talking to Asgore is a one-way ticket to death." Sans pointed out with a bored expression, but he seemed oddly tense. "He won't want to talk, except to maybe explain why he's killing you. He could kill you in one attack. You have to fight back if you want a chance to talk to him at all. He might talk to someone who proves their worth. Humans aren't worth shit to him, remember?"

You frowned. "But... He hates humans because they attacked you all years ago and trapped you here. If I prove I'm not like them, then I have a chance. I know I do." That sense of determination was filling you again. "I can do this." 

Papyrus snorted, if that's possible for someone with no nose. "You will die, human. But if you insist on not having our help, we shall not intervene in your deathwish." He glared lightly down at you, and you shrunk a little in his intense gaze. No matter if Papyrus was your friend, he was still terrifying to you. You held strong, though, refusing to back down from your 'no fighting' mindset. 

"If I do die, then so be it. I won't kill, I won't fight if I can avoid it." You said firmly before starting to eat. This was a surprisingly amazing steak and you were glad to have real food. You now realized just how hungry you really were. Living off of snacks and half-eaten meals over the past few days wasn't good for you. This was the first real meal you have had in a long while. You were incredibly grateful for the break, in a real building without worry. "Do you guys have spaghetti down here?" You asked suddenly. "I miss spaghetti." 

Papyrus made a face. "Spaghetti? Yes we have it, but I do not know why you would enjoy that vile dish." You raised an eyebrow at his commentary. For some reason, that seems wrong. Off. It was right there, in the back of your mind.... But you didn't know what it was. 

"Humans are so weird and random." Sans commented with a small smirk at you. In response, you stuck your tongue out at him. He surprised the hell out of you by doing it back, except his tongue was glowy and red and made of magic. He laughed at your shocked expression. 

"Wha-What the hell was that?!" You stuttered out and he continued to laugh at you. Papyrus only smiled. Once Sans calmed down from his laughter, he answered you. 

"It was magic." He said simply, his grin turning into a slightly-softer smile. "I can do a _lot_ with magic." Now he smirked and you shook your head, not bothering to question what he meant by that statement. 

"Even though this whole experience has been weird and scary and honestly something I'll always remember and probably have nightmares about... I'm glad I met you two. You have been interesting friends." You smiled brightly at the two skeletons and Sans looked away with a scowl, while Papyrus looked shocked you called him a friend. He seemed to be having an internal conflict with himself at this point, frowning and also looking down. You sighed, finishing your meal. 

"Why're you acting like this is the last time we'll see you? Like this is a goodbye? Because it's not." Sans asked suddenly and you shrugged. 

"I'm assuming the Core is really dangerous. We won't get another calm break like this until it's all over, I'm guessing. So I'm getting all my sappy thoughts out now." You answered simply. 

"As much as I'd like to, I do not think I will forget you either, human." Papyrus grumbled out. You rolled your eyes. 

"I still have a name, it's still Frisk. Would it kill you to use my name?" You crossed you arms with a scowl. The taller skeleton only smirked at you, but said nothing. 

"Eh, you'll always be a brat to me." Sans chuckled and you huffed. 

"Thank you for the meal. I think I'm gonna turn in early, because we have the Core tomorrow and that's gonna require a lot of rest." You stood up, nodded to the both of them, and went back to your room. There was one bed and one couch. You dragged out blankets and settled on the couch. Flowey left his pot to curl up with you on the couch under the blankets. You gently patted his petals. "The journey is almost over, huh Flowey." 

He nodded. "Yeah, it is. I'm gonna miss you, Frisk." He pointed out sadly. 

"What's gonna happen to you when I go through the barrier? Can I take you with me?" You asked suddenly in worry. 

"I don't know... You can try! But if you can't, I'll figure something out for myself." He promised with a confident smile, but you could tell the idea of being left here made him nervous. 

"I'll do my best to get you through the barrier with me." You said firmly with a firm nod. "Now, let's get some rest. The Core will be intense, I'm assuming." You snuggled down with Flowey curled up next to you, and you were soon asleep. You dreamt this time. First time in a while. It was strange. It was this world, but things were lighter, brighter. The people were kinder. Papyrus loved spaghetti and puzzles and Sans was a lazy fuck but you loved them both anyways. Toriel was like a mother to you and Asgore was a softy. Flowey was downright _evil_. It was so strange, yet so familiar... But it was just a dream. 

Right?


	18. The Core of Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was out of town, and sick. I also hate writing the core, its hard to write down that mess of a maze of lasers and stuff. I also had a hard time deciding what to do for Mettaton. I won't kill him off, don't worry. I do love that bi-polar mess. I finally came up with something I like. So... Here.

The Core, you decided, was worse than Hotland. The temperature was more bearable, but it was like a frickin' maze. It was all twisty and turny and of course the elevator wasn't working. You didn't know where you were going, and Papyrus wasn't the best help. He tried, sure. But he lead you into many, many traps. Sans would snicker and point out the right direction, making you feel a little suspicious. Perhaps he knew the Core better than he was letting on? You felt like you were screwed when it came to more laser puzzles. One of them was actually impossible for you, if it wasn't for random power surges that cut the power enough to let you move through to the other side and switch off the lasers for your companions. Flowey almost lost a petal there. 

"We are making good progress." Papyrus commented after a tough battle with something called a Knight Knight and a Madjick. Well, it seemed tough to you as you watched the skeletons fight. Once weakened enough, most monsters ran away, too afraid to die. The Knight Knight's seem just tired to you, and you wonder if perhaps you sang to them, would they fall asleep? Wait. Where did that thought come from? You kept getting weird thoughts and vibes the closer you got to the capital. Not to mention that dream you had. You could still remember it vividly. 

"Are we, or are we lost again?" You asked in a rather sassy tone. He glared at you lightly. 

"No, no. We're heading the right way." Sans reassured you with a light smirk. You noticed tiny changes in his attitude as time passed. At first he seemed murderous and angry all the time, with a sarcastic streak. Now, you've noticed he really is your friend. He jumps in front of you when a monster attacks you directly, he teases you in a sarcastic way or sasses you when you sass him back. He seems like he doesn't _want_ to kill you anymore. He seemed to like you. A lot. And yes, you still had his jacket. Because screw returning it to him. 

"Cool, cool..." You look down curiously. "What is that?" You point to something shiny in the corner, next to a decorative door. Both the skeletons gave you a funny look. 

"Are you finally losing it?" Flowey asked. "There's nothing there." 

You shook your head, going towards it and touching it. You didn't know why, but you felt like you should. It was this deep, deep feeling. You couldn't explain it. It was shiny and yellow and you touched it. You felt a strong sense of Determination and flashes appeared before your eyes. 

You and Sans in Grillby's, sharing a meal and laughing. 

Undyne and Alphys, holding hands and raving about anime, while you giggled along at their antics. 

Papyrus teaching you how to cook. 

Toriel baking you a pie. 

Asgore asking you advice on how to win back Toriel. 

Flowey, an evil, evil flower that you took to the Surface in a flower pot. 

Then it was over and you were back in reality. 

"You okay, kiddo? You seem really out of it." Sans asked you, showing concern. You knew it was real concern too. 

"I-Yeah, I'm fine." You shook your head. You still couldn't straighten out those flashes. They were like what you saw in your dream, but different. It was like... A different life. An entire life you couldn't remember. "Let's just go. Through this door, right?" You hurried through the decorated door, not hearing Sans shout, telling you to wait. The door slammed shut, and you noticed a distinct absence of skeletons. 

"Darling... I do wish we'd stop meeting. For your own safety, because I do love you. You're wonderful lovey. But this time... One of us will leave this time. Not both." A familiar robotic voice sounded. You turned, and met the friendly side of the robot you had encountered many time. Mettaton. He seemed sad, like he was having an internal battle with himself. "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. If I don't seriously fight you, if I don't take your soul for Alphys' testing... I will become scrap metal. I will be scrapped and I will die." That's when a bomb went off and you dodged the blast as best you could. This was it. This was your test to see if you could hold to your no fighting. You dropped your bag down on the side, with Flowey in it. 

"Wha-Fri-Why-FRISK!" Flowey shouted to you, but you ignored it. 

"I won't fight you Mettaton." You said firmly. He sighed heavily, looking down. 

"You are admirable, Frisk. You won't fight, you won't kill. It's admirable. I want to be like you, I do. But I cannot, I just cannot..." Another bomb exploded and you narrowly escaped it. You got burned that time, you knew it. 

"I won't fight you Mettaton! You don't have to fight me. Alphys can't control you forever."

This time, he kicked you with his oh-so-fabulous legs, sending you into the wall. Hard. You cried out in pain, and it seemed to also pain Mettaton. Then, his nice guy attitude disappeared and the more violent, ready-to-kill side came out. 

"Oh, darling... This will be fun." And he tried to kick you again, but you rolled over. You winced, because you were in an incredible about of pain. Being kicked by a metal leg would do that. 

"Frisk! I-I can use magic." Flowey yelled. 

"No! I don't want to hurt Mettaton!" You shouted back. "I will not fight! I am determined not to kill him." 

"No, no. Watch." Little white pellets appeared, as you dodged another bomb-like thing. They flew toward you, and you thought you should dodge, but instead, you let them touch you. You felt warmth flood your body, and the pain leave. "Friendliness pellets!" He smiled proudly, and you grinned back. Mettaton then tried to target Flowey, but you distracted him. 

"Alphys doesn't have to control you anymore. You can... You can fight her. Fight back. Get help. Banish her presence from yourself. I'm sure someone down here can help you." You said to him firmly. He chuckled darkly. 

"Even if Alphys didn't hold the threat of being scrapped over my head, I would still kill you, darling. I would make your last living moments absolutely beautiful." He grinned maliciously. "I would never be rid of this side of me, the violent side. What you would call 'evil'. You would never be safe. Why do you even try anymore? Just die!!" He threw a barrage of things at you now, and Flowey helped you by hitting those things with his harmful pellets. It made the bombs explode early, it made other things avoid you. It was helpful, and it let you talk to Mettaton more. 

"I don't care. You can work with that! I can work with that. Fight back, Mettaton! Fight against Alphys! I did. I escaped her. You helped me, knowing the risk. You helped me a second time, knowing the risk. You can fight her a third time, so fight!" You shouted with your fists balled up at your sides. You barely noticed the constant banging of the door. Probably mostly Sans trying to get through. 

"I can't!" Nice Mettaton shouted through. Now he was fighting with himself. 

"You don't need to. Let's kill the human." Evil Mettaton. 

"I don't want to."

"Do you want to be scrapped?!" 

The explosions died down, the objects stopped flying around. He stood, almost frozen in spot. 

"Frisk... Frisk is my friend. My human friend. And... Even Alphys can't take that away." A bomb appeared, and went off right in front of him, taking out his legs. 

"What are you doing?! You're going to kill yourself!" The evil side of him snarled through. 

"No! I-I will help my friend!" The nice Mettaton, the true Mettaton shone through, knocking off his own arms with another attack. He was little more than a bi-polar torso. "Alphys can't use me anymore... And she can't scrap me because I tried and I failed. Go, Frisk." He said with a sad but proud smile. 

You were shocked, to say the least, but nodded anyways. You were picking up your bag and Flowey, ready to leave, when the skeletons burst in. Papyrus had a bone attack at the ready and Sans' hand was glowing dangerously with magic. "Wait! He was fighting me but isn't now. I'll explain later, we have to go now!" You grabbed both of them by the hand and literally dragged them out of the room, surprising both of them. 

In the hall, where it was safe and quiet, you sighed heavily. You explained what happened in there, and they both listened. Sans seemed to get angry about Mettaton hurting you, and Papyrus just listened with a neutral face. "But I'm okay. Really. How much farther?" 

"Not too much. The capital, the castle. They are both very close." Sans said in a grave tone of voice.


	19. You Remember Everything.

You and the skeleton brothers were very quiet. Even Flowey was silent as you walked through the grey atmosphere that was New Home. The Capitol, really. You were nervous. Scared might be the right word here. This was it: the final battle. Maybe. Either you would die, or you would get past Asgore and go back to the surface, back to where you came from. 

As you walked, you came across a house. It was a mirror of Toriel's house. "We gotta go through that." Sans said simply. You blinked, remembering what happened in the ruins when you had to go through Toriel's actual house. 

"Alright. And then what?" You asked quietly. 

"Then, we go through the Hall of Judgement. I'll explain that when we get there. After that is a little more of the Capitol and then, you face off Asgore." Sans shrugged, his hands in his jacket pockets again. You nodded slowly, and Flowey sighed quietly. 

"Let's just get through this house of horrors." The angry yellow flower grumbled and you chuckled, walking through the door. As you did, though, you felt a strange rush and gasped, before falling backwards. You vaguely heard Sans shout your name, while you were pretty sure you went unconscious. 

_You walked around Waterfall with Alphys, biting your lip worriedly. "Parallel worlds?" You asked. She shook her head._

_"Kind of. Alternate universes if you will. And I can prove they exist! The one component that isn't constant is... Well. It's you. Meaning I can send you to the other universes at will, because you're the missing component. Each one has a Sans and an Alphys and a Papyrus and an Undyne. Each universe has each of us, but each universe doesn't have a Frisk." Alphys rambled excitedly, before smiling sheepishly. "I-I mean... You don't have to do it. I won't pressure you. But it would be amazing if you could go, and bring back some data about the worlds."_

_You listened intently, nodding along. As you grew up with the monsters, traveling between the surface and the underground as monsters slowly made their way up, you had begun to develop an interest in science. You would work with Alphys sometimes, and sometimes even offer yourself for testing of Determination. Toriel didn't like it, so it was often under the table to her knowledge. This, however... This was big. And you wanted to do it. "What can happen? Will I remember this world in the other worlds? Will I be able to come back here?" You asked quickly, working out the details of this. You wanted to do it._

_After a few weeks, you were ready. Things had been sorted, you had a plan. If you could breach the barrier in the other universes, releasing those monsters or just crossing it yourself, it would act as a reset for that world and send you back to this one. Today you said your goodbyes to everyone, including Sans._

_"Hey Kiddo. You better be correct about this and you better come back to us. Pap would miss you." He had said with a signature smirk. You promised to come back._

_The machine was a tube shaped thing. You stepped inside and Alphys flipped a switch. Your body broke into atoms and disappeared from that universe. What went wrong was that you forgot everything when you reached the next universe._

"...hey brat. Wake up!" A voice shouted at you. And then you got kicked in the side. 

"Oof! Ow, what the hell?" You opened your eyes and sat up slowly, rubbing your side. "Why?" You groaned to Sans. He shrugged. 

"What happened, human?" Papyrus asked with a frown. He looked suspicious of you. 

"I-I don't know. Really." You sighed. Except you did know. You didn't have a dream, you had a memory. You were from a different universe entirely and this wasn't where you were from. You needed to get home, back to your Sans and Toriel and Alphys and Papyrus and Undyne. You could never tell Sans or Papyrus of this universe though, because they would never believe you. Well, sans might. You remember him telling you he had full knowledge of the timelines in your universe. So maybe, this one did too? You stood up and sighed again. "Let's just go." 

And thus you began again through the mirror of Toriel's house. There was a lock and chain on the staircase with a sign that said to not come and not to look for the keys. So obviously you looked for the two keys and unlocked it, and headed down the stairs. This lead to a hall, which was pretty long. "Sans. Do you think I can do it?" You asked quietly. Papyrus looked at you curiously. 

"Do what? Fight Asgore? Nah. I honestly don't think you could kill him, and you'd need to kill him to get through. So either you chicken out and stay here, or you die." He said very bluntly and you gave him a surprised look. 

"I don't know why I'm surprised but I am. I think I'll get through that barrier." You said confidently. Papyrus shook his head. 

"I don't know, human. You have surprisingly grown on me. I... I don't wish for your death as much as I did, but I still do wish for it to release us. It's the only way." He narrowed his eyes and you chuckled. 

"I knew I'd grow on you!" You full-on laughed now and he only glared harder. You reached a stunning building. It looked like a chapel. Sans seemed to hesitate before entering with you and Papyrus. 

"What is this place?" You asked quietly. 

"This is the Judgement Hall."


	20. Question! (Authors Note)

Hey! So I had an idea but I need your help. Using my idea of different alternate universes, I came up with a new idea for my story. I do need an answer to my questions though, because your answers could affect how I write my next few chapters. 

I have the rest of this story planned out, and it will end soon. I know, I know. So sad! Here's my idea though: go into other universes. 

You (Frisk) goes to other universes in this story. For example, Underswap. What do you think?

Continue this? Or finally let it end?

That brings me to my next question: if I did continue, which universes should I do? Underswap is definitely an option I would do, so if I continued then I would do Underswap but I'll take suggestions for more. I will choose up to 3 more universes (including Underswap, unless you really don't want Underswap in there) if I continue it, and those will be based on the most suggested ones in the comments. 

Please, I really need some feedback for this! I'm willing to go on, I just want to know if that's what you want. Thank you, readers. I really, really appreciate you all.

Edit: I'll wait two weeks, maybe three to pick whether it continues or ends, and from there pick at least the next universe if it goes on. I'll be able to write at least two more chapters before deciding if it continues or ends. 


	21. Judgement Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been decided: I shall continue! For now, I have Underswap and Outertale chosen as some of the universes but am still taking suggestions for a third. Notice that I will write a solid ending for Corruption if you don't want it to continue (I did have a couple people wish for a solid ending) but then I shall continue. I don't know if I will make a separate story, like a series yet though, so if you could offer an opinion that would be lovely! Anyways, here we go.

The Judgement Hall was intimidating to say the least. It was huge, with bright golden walls and windows. It had to be the closest thing to a happy-looking place you had encountered since you reached this alternate universe. You remembered the Judgement Hall from your own universe. Sans had judged you for your sins there, before you went through to Asgore. You wondered if something similar would happen here. 

"Pretty, isn't it?" Sans said gruffly, hands shoved deep into his pockets with a scowl on his face. You nodded. You had never really noticed before, but the stained glass windows high on the walls portrayed the history of monsters. From the time they were on the surface, to when the humans drove them underground. The first human falling down, and from there it was just... Waiting. Waiting for more humans.

"Pretty is a word I would use, yeah. It's like a chapel." You noted, looking at Sans. Now that you could remember everything from your universe, you noticed all the differences between your Sans and this Sans all the more. It was really weirding you out. "What happens now?" 

Sans gave you a funny look. "What do you mean? We keep going. The throne room is just past this room." 

You instead shook your head. "I know something happens here." You paused. "I can... I can feel it." You lied, but stood your ground. 

"Usually, if a human can even make it this far, they are judged here. But it means nothing, they are always killed in the end. Either by my judgement or Asgore." Sans grumbled, seeming slightly uncomfortable talking about it. 

"So... Why aren't you judging me?" You asked, fidgeting slightly. Papyrus took sudden interest in the stained glass pictures up above, his foot tapping slightly. 

"I know you're not evil or whatever. So you have no sin for me to judge." He glared at you. "Even so, I'd still fight you. You've grown on me like a damn fungus. I don't want to fight you because you'll die. I don't want to be the one to kill you." He finally admitted, now glaring a hole in the ground. You blinked at him, and Flowey snorted. 

"You're as bad as they come, you bag of bones. Why wouldn't you--" Flowey's words were cut off suddenly when a cloud of red magic covered him just below his petal-lined head, nearly suffocating him. 

"I got no problem killing you, you weed." He snarled. "I could fight you brat but you _will_ die." 

"If I don't learn at least how to dodge anything, won't I die by walking into the throne room?" You pointed out quietly and calmly as Flowey was released from the magic hold. 

"What're you suggesting?" Sans asked, and Papyrus turned his attention to you again. 

"Fight me." Your words rang out in the silent, empty room. Flowey looked at you like you had grown a second head and Papyrus chuckled for the first time you could recall that wasn't entirely filled with malice. 

"I have been hunting you from the very beginning. I went so far to fake being a so-called friend to you, human. All to get to you, and yet when we get here, my brother and I cannot seem to kill you. You grew on us, as much as it disgusts me to say. When we no longer wish to fight, to kill, you suddenly demand for us to fight you." He chuckled again. "Humans are the strangest beings."

You slipped off your bag and dropped it to the floor, along with Flowey who made a noise of protest but you shushed him quickly. "Really though. Give me your best shot. You tried to attack with Undyne but that just ended up with you tw--" your words were cut off when a cloud of red magic lifted you off the ground and promptly tossed you into a wall. You crashed into it with an oof. Sans was glaring lightly at you. 

"You don't know what you're asking so just shut up." He growled. 

"If you don't at least make an attempt to fight me, won't Asgore be upset with you?" You pointed out between pained breaths. That had hurt-you were sure you would have bruises now. 

"Of course he will. We could get killed." Papyrus said in a dark tone. 

"If I show up roughed up, it will be good for you both... And I'll have a little experience under my belt." You stood on shaky legs. Flowey yelled at you, saying you were a total moron until he was thrown to the side by magic. "Hey! Leave him alone. Flowey, stay out of this." You said firmly. "Go on, Sans and Papyrus. Show me what I need to be ready for." 

Doing as you asked, Papyrus sent a line of bones for you, which you dodged. They embedded themselves into the wall behind you, sharp and deadly looking. Sans hesitated on fighting, but also made no moves to stop it. You jumped over small bones and ducked to dodge the ones that came at you through the air. A few nicked you, causing you to bleed a little from each cut and rip your clothes. Suddenly, you saw an animal-like skull floating in the air. It's maw opened and a blast of red magic-but this time deadly-came out and you hit the deck to avoid it. "What the hell was that?!"

"It's called a Gaster Blaster." Sans spoke up. "It's one of my more powerful attacks. You'll be facing worse than this." Two more appeared and you again dodge, but just barely. You could feel the heat from the blasts. A blue hue surrounded you, slowing your movements greatly and it felt like you were being pulled to the ground. You could barely jump over the bones, and you had trouble dodging as much, causing more small injuries. 

"This is my special attack: you're blue. It keeps you from moving as fast, keeps you closer to the ground." Papyrus explained, seemingly calm even though they were fighting. Deciding not to fight but to gain the upper hand, you rushed Sans, knocking him to the ground. However, you miscalculated his strength and he ended up pining you to the ground. 

"Annnnnnnd you're dead." He smirked and you struggled under him. Papyrus pulled him off of you and you stood on very shaky legs. He looked at the door at the other end of the hall with a frown. 

"Asgore knows we're here. We need to go." He roughly grabbed your arm and you shouted in protest, but he shushed you. 

"We gotta look like we're delivering you to him." Sans grumbled as they dragged you out of the Judgement Hall, leaving your bag and Flowey behind. You protested with that, but went silent after leaving the Hall. There was a door. They shoved you through it, and followed you. You fell to the ground. 

"Asgore. We have brought you the human."


	22. Asgore, The King Of All Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore is not the friendly goat dad you remembered from your own world. Asgore is big and scary and not afraid to kill you. And worst of all, he was more powerful than your worlds Asgore. How would you ever do this? You didn't want to kill... You refused to kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... Took a while. On top of figuring out just how this would work, I have finals and stuff coming up so I've been focusing on that and trying to pass one class I am still failing. But! I have some time and I've got this so here it goes.

Asgores back was to you, and he wouldn't turn around. All you saw was his absolutely massive form, with his cloak on him. It was black with red lining. His hair was black, not golden. He finally turned around and his eyes were like Toriel's. Red, and full of malice. He looked stone cold and radiated a feel of evil, but it was a heavy kind of evil. It was the kind where he had done it for many ages, and at this point he was numb to it. It no longer affected him, where at one point it might have. He had a beard, which was also black. If he wasn't so evil looking, you might have wanted to touch it, it looked so fluffy.

"Human, hm? You're the human who has been traipsing through my Underground?" His voice was deep and sent chills down your spine, but you stood your ground firmly. 

"My name is Frisk and I just want to go home." You said firmly, staring at him. 

"Human, you will not be going home. No, I will be taking your soul and freeing my people, to reclaim our world rightfully." He stated simply, as if it was such a simple concept. "But, since you have made it so far, I wish to show you something. It's impressive you've made it so far, and you will die anyways. Follow me." He said, turning and leaving the throne room. Sans grabbed your arm again and dragged you after him. It seemed like he was having some kind of internal battle. Sans gave Papyrus a look and Papyrus nodded just barely. You wondered what that was about. 

Going through a couple more grey hallways, you finally reached where Asgore had gone. Sans roughly shoved you in, and you stumbled but stayed upright. They stood like sentries at the door, like they were gonna keep you from running if you tried. Looking into the room, you were.... Not sure what you were looking at. It was black, and then it was white, and then it was black again. It pulsated like this, and it was nearly hypnotic. "What is this?" You asked, and then you remembered vaguely from your own world. It was the Barrier. 

"This is the Barrier, the one thing keeping us here." Asgore explained. You glanced back at Sans and noticed he was looking at it with a strange sense of longing. "By taking your soul, I will have enough to break this Barrier and free everyone." Asgore continued with a low tone of voice. "Wouldn't you, who appears to be such a kind human, want that? To help our kind?" He pressed. It sounded like he was trying to goad you into just... Letting him kill you.

But you refused. 

"Asgore... Right? I want to go. That's all I want. If your kind didn't want to kill all of my kind so badly I would have considered helping you. If you crossed the Barrier, you would destroy human society. I can't let that happen." You explained yourself carefully. You had no weapons, you had no chance of putting up any kind of fight beyond a verbal one, so that's all you would do. Besides, you refused to fight. 

"To cross this Barrier you would need the soul of a Boss Monster, which is what I am. Sans and Papyrus are also Boss Monsters, but I am the most powerful of them all. You would have to kill me to get through." He hoisted a large, red, trident-like weapon. You remembered this from your own universe, your own timeline. He would hit you with it, and shoot fire at you, and you had _no choice_ but to strike him back, until Toriel came and saved you. That's when everyone's souls were taken by Flowey, that's when it was revealed that Flowey was actually Asriel Dreemurr, that's when everything made sense again. But this? 

This was the end. 

He swung at you and you threw yourself to the ground in a desperate attempt to dodge the hit. It barely missed you, making your hair move with the wind it created. He then slammed it down into the ground, prongs first, in an attempt to skewer you, but you rolled to the side. It caught the side of your shirt and ripped it. You pushed yourself off the ground and gave yourself some distance between him and you, catching your breath. He didn't seem to break a sweat at all. He summoned fireballs and threw them at you, much like Toriel's attacks, and you dodged with a yelp. However, some of these fireballs seemed to follow you around for a moment. The first fireball to follow you caught you so off guard that it smacked into your leg, burning the fabric of your pants and the leg underneath it. This made you collapse with a shout, and an evil smirk formed on Asgore's face. He had you now. 

At least, that's what he thought. 

As he attempted to skewer you a second time, you rolled away and stood behind him now. Seeing a clear opening for the Barrier, you limp-ran to it as fast you could... Only to smack into it. You pounded your fist on it, but it wouldn't budge, it wouldn't break. 

"I told you, you need my soul." Asgore chuckled darkly, yanking you back to stand pitifully in front of him. With a wave of his hand, a ring of fire surrounded the two of you. Even though you couldn't get through the Barrier on your own, now you couldn't run far from him. You had to face him head-on, which is exactly what he wanted. He rained fire down upon you, and you jumped left, right, back, and forward in desperate moves to dodge the falling fire. Fire was thrown at you, it chased you, it surrounded you. Your clothes were charred and burnt and cut and your skin was raw from burns and injuries. His damn trident would cut you on occasion as you dodged and yelled, trying to negotiate and talk your way out of this. 

There was no chance for negotiation. 

After a particularly bad swipe from the trident, which both cut you and knocked you down, you saw Sans flinch forward, like he wanted to fight for you, but with a single look and lift of Papyrus' hand, he stayed back with a solemn look of guilt. Your energy was sapped. You were exhausted. This entire trip through this world had exhausted yourself. You just... All you wanted was to go back to your world. To your Toriel who made you cinnamon-butterscotch pie, your sans who made puns and slept like it was his job, your Papyrus who loved spaghetti and making you smile, your Asgore who was like a fluffy dad figure. To your everything. This was not your world. Except you saw no escape. Your one escape was impossible to go through, so what were you to do now? 

Now. You make a final stand. And this final stand included kicking the shit out of that Barrier and breaking it with sheer force of will. You were going home, dammit. 

Making a leap over the fire, you thought you would make it... When the trident slammed itself into your back, prongs first. Falling to the ground in pain, you looked down at your chest and saw the tip of it poking out. This was it. 

This is how you died. 

This is how you tried to see other worlds, and this is how you died. 

The last thing you remembered seeing before everything went black was Sans running forward, hand covered in magic shouting at Asgore, and Papyrus trying to hold him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT THE END. I repeat: not the end. But i'm evil so have a cliffhanger. Planning on showing you where I'm going with this tomorrow.


	23. Where... Where Are You?

You remembered dying. 

Dead. 

You were dead. 

Is this what the afterlife felt like? 

You were just kind of... Floating. Floating along in this dark place. A place that made no sense. 

Wait. 

You could see a light up ahead... 

Moving towards it-you weren't sure how you were moving for the record you just sort of _were_ -you reached out for it... 

And fell to the ground. Now what? 

You were in a place totally and utterly surrounded by white. It was in every direction you turned and looked, just white. But you weren't floating, there was ground beneath you. You looked down and winced. 

There were holes through your shirt and dried blood too. That's where you were stabbed, that's how you died. Your clothes were still ripped and charred but all your injuries were gone. 

"Am I in heaven?" You said aloud. Your voice seemed to echo a little in this place. "Or is this hell? Or is this just the afterlife?" 

"Hello." You whipped around at this new voice and met... A very strange sight. It was _you_ , but younger you. And this you was black and white with black circles for eyes. It was creepy, if you were totally honest. "I am Frisk. Some call me Core Frisk or Core but please. Call me Frisk." They said. Their voice had a strange echo to it, like several voices at once were trying to speak. 

"H-Hi. You're... You're me." You said dumbly, staring at them with a confused expression. 

"Yes, in a way. From another timeline, another universe. In mine, however, I fell into the Core and was scattered throughout time and space. I can travel through time and space as a result and see all that I already know. I know every timeline, every outcome, every universe of the Alpha timeline. I know you do not belong where you just came from." They cocked their head to the side a little. "When you died, I plucked you from that timeline and world and brought you here, to the crossroad of the worlds. I kept your soul from entering Asgore's hands, and I reset that world. It is now like you were never even there." 

"Whoa. You have that power?" You asked with wide eyes. 

"Of course. I am a Frisk. I can reset, even if I am scattered throughout space and time. The world I pulled you out of is called Underfell. Your world is called Undertale. You can bring that information back to Alphys in your world." They sighed a little, plopping down on the ground. You also sat down now, still facing them. 

"What happens now? Do I go home to my world? God I wanna get home so bad... I almost gave up at the end there. I mean, I didn't, but I almost did." You explained with a solemn tone. 

"Yes. You will go home now. I will send you home." They said with a wave of their hand. A portal-like thing opened up, with little blue strings coming off the edges of it for some reason. Core Frisk frowned and brushed said strings off. You didn't know what those were but you didn't care much either. You just wanted to go home. "Go through this and you will be home." They commanded, standing up. Now you stood up as well. 

"Thank you. For saving me, for sending me home. Thank you so much." You smiled brightly and happily at them, and they surprised you by returning the smile. 

"You are welcome. Go now, back to the Alpha timeline and world, and share your discoveries with Alphys. She will not know who I am, but send her and Sans my best wishes." They paused for a moment. "Will you give everyone my best wishes?" They asked, almost shyly. You nodded in agreement 

"Of course I will. Thank you." You said a final time, and then stepped through the portal. 

You were falling now, through space and time, until you landed in snow, face first. "H-holy crap it's c-cold..." You grumbled, pushing your self up. You had to find Sans and Papyrus and Alphys and Undyne and everyone to make sure you were home. You took off running through the snowbanks, eager to find everyone. You reached Waterfall and realized you'd have to backtrack to get to Snowdin. So you went back, until you came across the Skeleton brothers home. 

"Holy shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION PLEASE READ. The next chapter will ONLY be for those who wanted it to end after Underfell. This will be a solid ending of the story period. HOWEVER, I will start a new story as part of a series to continue this in a bit. I repeat, the next chapter is ONLY for those who wanted it to end after Underfell. That is all.


	24. Home (Underfell Ending)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm sorry for the wait. I don't have much of an excuse. Loss of motivation, hard times, school... The usual. This chapter is only for those who wanted a solid ending to Underfell.  I will start a second book to continue to other universes, so please keep an eye out for that. This chapter is not canon to my series. It is... An alternate ending of sorts. A nice tie-up for just Underfell since some people wanted that. Without further ado, here we go. 

Undyne was sulking outside of the skeleton brothers home, muttering about the cold. She missed the little twerp of a human, and wondered when you would return. That's when she looked up and her eyes widened. "Yo, Alphys! Sans, Papyrus! Get out here!" She shouted in happiness, before running towards you. You flinched, memories of the other Undyne rising to the surface, but hugged your Undyne anyways. She would never hurt you. 

"Kid. You're back." Sans smiled lazily as he joined Undyne by you, like he wasn't the least bit worried while you had been gone. You knew he really was worried the entire time, he cared too much to not be worried. "Let's get you inside." He added, ushering you into the warmth that was his home. 

"Human! What happened to you?" Papyrus shouted in his usual loud voice, worried. You clothes were still stained with your own blood and ripped up probably beyond repair. You only noticed that now. 

"I'm okay... I have a lot to share." You finally spoke up. Toriel came out from the kitchen now, carrying a pie. She nearly dropped it at the sight of you and the state you were in. Instead, the pie found its way to safety on a table as she ran and scooped you up into a warm hug. 

"My child... We must get you new clothes." Toriel said with a smile, tears on the edge of her eyes. "I was worried sick. Alphys was tracking you through some sort of machine she developed, but something happened... She lost your signal for a while. It reappeared very weak yesterday, and now you are home!" She said in a rush. 

Alphys was the next person to show up, a clipboard in hand. She looked very frazzled and stressed, probably having stayed up very long and late nights to keep an eye on that signal, and working furiously to get it back when it went missing. She seemed like she was about to collapse, but visibly relaxed at the sight of you. "F-Frisk. I'm so glad you're safe! You have to recount everything to me, while your memory is fresh." She said with a nod. She paused, then added "But if you want to rest and change clothes first, uh... You-You should do that first." 

"I want to change clothes, but then I'll tell you everything." You promised. Toriel ushered you to Sans' room, telling you to borrow his clothes for now. You did just that. They brought an odd comfort to you, making you feel safe and at home. Tears sprung to your eyes, unwanted and uncalled for. You were just... So happy this ordeal was over with. You were safe and alive, you were with your family again. What more could you want right now? 

Your stomach growled at that moment, reminding you that you wanted real food. You left Sans' room and bounced down the stairs. You could smell Papyrus' spaghetti cooking, and there was a pie already made. "Mom?" You asked, glancing to Toriel. "Can I have something to eat first?" 

"Oh! Of course, my child." She hurried to the kitchen and got you something simple while the spaghetti cooked. You smiled brightly, chowing down like you were starving. In a way, you kind of were. When was the last time you had real food? As you ate, Alphys asked you simple questions to start, jotting down your short answers on her notepad.   
Eventually, you had to tell your entire story. 

"Alright... From the beginning. I woke up in the bed of flowers, just like when I first came here, but I had no memories at all. It was strange, everything felt off..." You launched into your tale. At different times, different people would flinch or gasp at the horrid treatment you received in the other world. Underfell, Core Frisk had called it. It took most of the evening, and once your tale was finished you were tired. Alphys looked exhausted, because now she had to go through all these notes. Tomorrow, she decided. 

Undyne and Alphys said their goodbyes and left, but you wanted to stay here for the night. Toriel didn't want to be away from you, so she offered to stay as well. You ended up crashing on the couch with her, and the skeletons retired to their respective rooms. Your last thoughts as you drifted off were of how happy you were... But also, what happened to the other world? You knew it reset, but... Would they ever get out? What would happen to the almost-friends you made? 

Your dreams were filled with all these what-ifs.


	25. Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

What's your christmas gift? 

Well. It's a _complete_ revamp of this story. My writing style has improved vastly over the past year or so, and looking back on this... Makes me cringe. Not because of content, simply because of my writing ability. I'm gonna redo this, but keep this original up until the new one is done, AND... I will actually continue the series. My motivation dried up a long time ago but I recently found it and actually enjoy writing again. Keep an eye out for all this stuff and more!


End file.
